^1  VI 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


/ 


The  CHATEAU  of  MONTPLAISIR 


She  turned  on  him  two  sweet,   dark  eyes. 


The  CHATEAU  of 

MONTPLAISIR 


BY 

MOLLY  ELLIOT  .SEAWELL 

A  uthor  of>- 

"The  Sprightly  Romance  of  Marsac," 
"Papa  Bouchard" 


YORK 

D.   APPLETON   AND   COMPANY 
1906 


COPYRIGHT,  1906,  BY 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Published  April,  1906 


PS 
M 
Sic 


CONTENTS 


I. — UNCLE  AND  NEPHEW I 

II. — AUNT  AND  NIECE 29 

III. — GAY  DINARD 39 

IV. — THE   PLOT  THICKENS 63 

V. — A  DUKE,  A  COMTESSE,  A  SOAP-BOILER,  AND 

AN  AUTO-CAR 102 

VI. — JULIE'S  LITTLE  MISTAKE 139 

VII. — A   MERRY  WEEK  IN  PARIS 178 

VIII. — MARS   AND   CUPID 207 

IX. — THE   ROGUISH  LITTLE   BLIND  BOY  LAUGHS 

LAST 229 


1563019 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 

GUIS  VICTOR  DE  LATOUR, 

recently  become  lord  of  the 
Chateau  of  Montplaisir,sat,the 
picture  of  misery,  at  a  window 
of  the  grand  saloon  of  the  chateau  looking 
out  upon  the  gray  sea.  To  the  right  of  him, 
and  visible  through  the  misty  veil  of  falling 
rain,  lay  the  usually  merry  watering  place  of 
Dinard,  now — like  everything  else  in  sight — 
dripping  wet  and  forlorn.  The  sky  was 
gloomier  than  the  sea,  and  the  chateau  the 
gloomiest  of  all.  It  was  an  immense  pile, 
with  a  great  court-yard  in  the  middle,  where 
the  flagstones,  like  everything  else  about  the 
place,  were  cracked  and  broken.  Half  the 
windows  were  out  and  the  other  half  boarded 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

up.  There  were  a  few  wrecks  and  remnants 
of  furniture  in  the  saloon  where  the  new 
owner  sat,  but  these  wrecks  and  remnants  were 
huddled  in  one  corner,  the  only  spot  secure 
from  the  rain,  which  dripped  ceaselessly  from 
the  glass  dome  in  the  centre. 

As  for  Louis  de  Latour,  he  had  been 
counted  the  merriest  and  lightest-hearted  fel- 
low alive  as  long  as  he  had  scarcely  a  franc 
in  his  pocket;  but  now  that  he  had  come  into 
his  inheritance  he  appeared  to  be  as  melan- 
choly as  an  owl.  He  was  good-looking  and 
well  made  and  had  been  reckoned  to  be  of 
dauntless  courage;  however,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir  was 
enough  to  take  the  courage  out  of  a  Julius 
Caesar. 

Louis  sat  at  a  rickety  little  table,  taking 
what  he  called  by  courtesy  his  mid-day  break- 
fast, which  consisted  of  weak  coffee,  stale 
bread,  and  something  which  old  Suzette,  who 
in  herself  constituted  the  whole  domestic  staff 
of  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir,  represented  as 
a  salad.  But  Louis,  after  tasting  it,  had  de- 
termined that  it  was  a  collection  of  weeds 
2 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


grown  between  the  broken  flagstones  of  the 
court-yard. 

"  Yes,"  he  said  sadly,  holding  up  a  piece  of 
the  green  stuff  on  his  fork  and  looking  out 
into  the  dreary  court-yard,  "  it  is  the  same. 
Suzette  thinks  to  impose  upon  my  innocence, 
but  I  do  know  chicory  from  milkweed.  How- 
ever, she  is  quite  justified.  Any  man  who 
would  accept  this  old  rattletrap  as  a  gift  could 
be  imposed  upon  by  anybody  in  anything. 
And  how  delighted  I  was  to  get  it,  and  how 
I  used  to  mention  casually,  in  the  days  when 
I  was  an  engineer  looking  for  work,  that  the 
seat  of  my  family  was  the  Chateau  of  Mont- 
plaisir,  near  Dinard!  If  anybody  would  ask 
me  now  about  the  seat  of  my  family,  I  should 
deny  that  I  ever  saw  or  heard  of  such  a  place 
as  Montplaisir.  I  am  convinced  that  my 
cousin  who  left  it  to  me  had  a  secret  grudge 
against  me.  That  man  was  my  enemy  during 
life,  and  determined  to  punish  me  at  his  death. 
I  can  neither  sell  the  place,  nor  lease  it,  nor 
live  in  it,  nor  give  it  away.  But  one  thing 
remains " 

Here  Louis  paused,  and,  getting  up  from 
3 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPL4ISIR 

his  chair,  walked  about  the  room  surveyed  it 
critically,  and  then  leaned  out  of  a  window 
opening  upon  the  court-yard. 

"  Ah,  well,"  he  said  to  himself,  coming 
back  to  the  table,  "  I  now  know  what  to  do 
with  this  old  rookery!  It  is  perfectly  prac- 
ticable. I  can  burn  it  up,  if  only  I  had  the 
money  to  buy  the  combustibles.  But  at  least 
I  can  try.  No  harm  can  come  of  it,  because 
the  wretched  old  barn  is  not  insured — no  com- 
pany would  insure  the  place  for  five  hundred 
francs.  I  shall  at  least  have  the  biggest  bon- 
fire of  the  year.  Sympathy  will  be  excited 
for  me  by  my  having  lost  my  ancestral  chateau. 
I  shall  represent  it  to  have  been  filled  with 
priceless  treasures  of  art.  This  room  I  shall 
say  was  equipped  with  real  Louis  Quatorze 
furniture  and  pictures  by  Greuze  and  Horace 
Vernet.  The  dining  saloon,  which  is  the 
barest  hole  I  ever  saw  in  my  life  and  must 
always  have  been,  I  shall  say  was  hung  with 
tapestries  of  the  same  period  as  that  of  Bay- 
eux.  There  is  a  mouldy  old  picture  in  there 
which  answers  exactly  the  description  of  a 
Salvator  Rosa.  It  is  very  black,  very  dirty, 
4 


UNCLE  AND   NEPHEW 


and  looks  as  if  it  were  done  with  ink  instead 
of  paint.  I  shall,  of  course,  represent  that  as 
one  of  Salvator  Rosa's  masterpieces — after  it 
is  burned  up.  Then  I  shall  also  decorate  that 
room  with  Paul  Veroneses  and  Titians,  and 
perhaps  I  shall  throw  in  a  Raphael  or  two — 
I  can  afford  to  lose  them  in  the  fire  because 
I  never  had  them.  I  shall  spend  the  rest  of 
to-day  making  out  a  list  of  the  valuables  which 
I  intend  to  lose.  It  will  get  in  the  newspapers, 
and  then  it  may  reach  the  eyes  of  Julie  de 
Bresac." 

As  the  thought  of  this  charming  girl  oc- 
curred to  him,  Louis  threw  himself  back  in  his 
chair  with  an  increase  of  his  despair.  He  had 
met  her  in  Algiers,  that  place  of  sunshine  and 
merriment,  and  Julie  herself  was  a  creature 
of  sunshine  and  merriment.  She  was  young, 
lovely,  and  heiress  to  a  great  fortune.  Louis 
was  young,  handsome,  clever,  and  at  that 
time  heir  to  nothing  at  all.  But  he  and  Julie 
were  of  the  same  class  and  caste,  the  best  in 
France. 

And  Julie  had  an  old  aunt,  the  Comtesse 
de  Beauregard,  who,  for  pure  gaiety  of  heart, 

5 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

prankishness,  and  an  ineradicable  passion  for 
sowing  wild  oats,  was  quite  incomparable. 
She  was  a  very  gay  old  person,  indeed,  and 
Louis  would  have  preferred  that  Julie  should 
have  had  some  other  guardian  than  this  scape- 
grace old  lady.  But  at  least,  as  Madame  de 
Beauregard  was  the  most  unconventional  per- 
son who  ever  lived,  she  allowed  Julie  a  degree 
of  liberty  quite  unknown  to  any  other  young 
lady  of  Louis  de  Latour's  acquaintance.  This 
he  had  utilised  in  the  most  artful  manner  in 
Algiers,  and  had  contrived  to  see  Julie  often 
enough  and  intimately  enough  to  reveal  the 
secret  of  his  heart  to  her  and  to  draw  from 
her  a  sweet,  unspoken  acknowledgment.  For 
Julie  was  very  sweet,  with  all  her  wildness, 
one-half  of  which  she  was  incited  to  by 
the  irrepressible  Madame  de  Beauregard. 
Louis's  first  thought,  on  hearing  of  his  inheri- 
tance, had  been  that  he  could  make  Julie  the 
mistress  of  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir,  but 
the  notion  of  it  now  staggered  him. 

"  She  would  be  eaten  up  by  the  rats,"  he 
groaned  aloud.      "  The  idea  of  showing  Julie 
this  place,  of  letting  her  know  that  I  was  so 
6 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


cruelly  imposed  upon,  is  harrowing  to  my 
feelings.  O  Julie,  Julie  !  " 

Then  old  Suzette  poked  her  nose  in  at  the 
door.  She  had  a  face  as  brown  and  hard  as 
a  hickory  nut,  but  there  was  a  twinkle  in  her 
eyes  which  sometimes  reminded  Louis  of  the 
wicked  gleam  in  the  merry  old  eyes  of  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard.  These  two  were,  in 
truth,  sisters  under  their  skins.  Just  as  she 
entered  a  raindrop  splashed  upon  Louis's  nose. 
There  was  an  umbrella  standing  in  the  corner, 
and  Louis  seized  it  and  was  about  to  open  it 
over  his  head  when  Suzette,  rushing  forward, 
wrenched  it  out  of  his  hand. 

"O  monsieur!"  she  cried,  "don't  you 
know  it  is  bad  luck  to  put  up  an  umbrella  in 
the  house?  " 

"  Do  you  call  this  a  house?  "  replied  Louis. 
"  I  don't.  And  which  is  the  worse  luck — to 
put  up  an  umbrella  or  to  die  of  pneumonia? 
Last  night  I  slept  under  that  umbrella — I 
fastened  it  to  the  head  of  my  bed." 

"  O  Heavens !  "  cried  Suzette  in  a  frantic 
voice,  "  how  could  you  so  tempt  ill  fortune?  " 

"  I  tempted  ill  fortune  enough  when  I  ac- 
7 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

cepted  this  old  barrack,  but  my  excuse  is  that 
I  didn't  know  how  to  get  out  of  it." 

"  It  would  be  a  fine  place,  monsieur,"  said 
Suzette,  clearing  off  the  table,  "  if  you  had  a 
million  of  francs  to  put  it  in  order." 

"  And  five  million  more  to  live  upon.  Do 
you  know  anywhere  that  I  could  pick  up  six 
million  francs  ?  At  present  I  have  exactly  six 
francs,  fifty  centimes  in  my  pocket." 

"  At  least,"  continued  old  Suzette,  clatter- 
ing the  dishes,  "  it  is  a  good  place  from  which 
to  date  your  letters.  It  will  look  well  on  your 
writing  paper." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  replied  Louis  sarcastically, 
"  and  I  might  give  an  account  of  my  domestic 
staff  as  follows:  Housekeeper,  Madame  Su- 
zette Didier;  cook,  Suzette  Didier;  butler, 
Didier;  valet  de  chambre,  Suzette.  Some  day 
I  shall  get  lost  in  this  infernal  place,  and  you 
will  find  me  eaten  up  by  the  rats,  as  I  am  afraid 
my  sweet  Julie  would  be." 

"  And  who  is  Mademoiselle  Julie,  mon- 
sieur? " 

"  An  angel,  a  ray  of  sunshine,  a  star,  an 
exquisite  flower,  a  gem  of  dazzling  beauty." 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


"  Oh,  the  young  lady  you  are  in  love  with ! 
That's  the  way  my  Pierre  used  to  talk  about 
me  fifty  years  ago.  Lovers  are  all  alike,  mon- 
sieur, in  every  rank  of  life." 

"  But  when  she  sees  that  I  consented  to  ac- 
cept this  dismal  old  rookery  I  shall  earn  her 
everlasting  contempt,"  groaned  Louis. 

"  Come,  now,  monsieur,"  said  Suzette, 
"  don't  be  so  downhearted.  You  are  not  at 
all  bad  looking." 

"  Thank  you  a  thousand  times." 

"  And  I  have  seen  stupider  men." 

"Oh,  no,  never!  The  possession  of  this 
chateau  has  forever  ruined  the  reputation  for 
any  good  sense  I  ever  had." 

"  Now,  don't  say  that.  When  things 
are  at  their  worst  they  always  begin  to 
mend." 

"  Do  they?  Then  just  look  around  and 
see  if  there  is  a  fire  smouldering  anywhere, 
and  don't  put  it  out.  But  it  would  be  just  my 
luck,  as  soon  as  the  fire  was  started,  to  have  a 
pouring  rain  come  down  exactly  like  this. 
However,  that  hope  of  a  fire  remains.  Go, 
and  if  you  smell  smoke  come  and  tell  me ;  and 
2  9 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

remember,  whatever  you  do,  don't  try  to  put 
the  fire  out." 

As  Suzette  opened  the  door  to  go  out  she 
almost  walked  over  an  elderly  gentleman  just 
entering.  He  was  one  of  those  persons  who 
bear  the  stamp  of  prosperity  writ  large  all 
over  them.  His  clothes  were  of  the  hand- 
somest make,  his  umbrella,  his  watch  chain, 
everything  about  him  betokened  the  man  who 
goes  into  a  great  shop  and  asks  for  the  best. 
He  was  clean-shaven  and  had  a  very  intelli- 
gent nose,  pompous  ears,  and  a  smiling  and 
liberal  mouth.  But  his  ruddy  countenance 
was  more  marked  than  is  usually  found  among 
the  merely  rich,  and  he  had  a  pair  of  gray-blue 
eyes  which  indicated  a  strange  mixture  of 
artlessness  and  shrewdness.  Suzette  took  his 
dripping  umbrella,  and  then,  advancing,  he 
made  a  very  polite  bow  to  Louis,  who  rose 
courteously.  The  newcomer  said,  handing  a 
card: 

"  May  I  introduce  myself?  I  am  Mon- 
sieur Victor  Louis  de  Latour,  and  I  hope  it 
is  not  presumptuous  in  me  to  claim  descent 
from  the  great  family  of  De  Latour,  of  which 
10 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


this  chateau  has  been  the  seat  for  two  cen- 
turies." 

"  As  a  descendant  of  the  great  house  of  De 
Latour,  may  I  ask  you  to  take  the  best  of  the 
only  two  chairs  in  the  chateau  which  my 
ancestors  have  imposed  upon  me?"  replied 
Louis  gravely,  offering  the  only  other  chair  in 
the  room  besides  the  one  on  which  he  himself 
had  sat. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  seated  himself  and 
smiled  benignly. 

"  I  am  exceedingly  grateful,"  he  said,  "  that 
you  should  receive  me  as  a  relative  and  as  a 
humble  member  of  a  distinguished  family." 

"  My  dear  sir,"  answered  Louis,  "  I  am 
glad  you  take  it  as  a  compliment.  For  my 
part,  I  hate  every  ancestor  I  ever  had.  They 
appear  to  have  had  no  sort  of  consideration 
for  me  whatever.  They  left  me  this  old  ruin, 
which  I  don't  believe  has  had  ten  francs'  worth 
of  repairs  on  it  in  the  last  hundred  years.  But 
they  took  pretty  good  care  to  build  substantial 
monuments  to  themselves  in  the  church  yon- 
der " — pointing  from  the  window — "  com- 
fortable tombs  without  a  crack  in  them  and 
ii 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

not  a  leak  in  a  single  place.  That  is  the  way 
of  the  world — every  man  for  himself." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,"  asked  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  glancing  around  him,  "  that  you 
have  no  means  to  repair  this  chateau?  " 

"  I  have  at  present  six  francs,  fifty  cen- 
times," replied  Louis.  "  That  is  hardly 
worth  applying  to  such  a  purpose." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  looked  about  him  as 
if  he  doubted  whether  his  host  were  a  lunatic 
or  not,  but  Louis's  calm  and  graceful  manner 
and  smiling  eyes  were  reassuring. 

"  Oh,  I  see !  "  cried  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
"  you  inherited  the  chateau  and  nothing  with 
it." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  inherited  an  army  of  rats  and 
the  most  beautiful  views  in  France  from  every 
window  in  the  chateau;  but,  unluckily,  I  am 
afraid  of  the  rats,  who  are  much  more  com- 
fortable here  than  I  am,  and  I  can  neither 
eat  the  view  nor  sell  it,  nor  raise  money 
on  it — so  it  is  practically  of  no  use  to  me 
at  all." 

"  Then  what  do  you  propose  to  do  with  the 
property?  " 

12 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


"  I  have  considered  the  matter  seriously, 
and  I  propose  to  burn  it  up." 

"  Oh,  come,  now!  "  said  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  encouragingly,  and  drawing  his  chair 
closer  to  that  of  Louis,  "  don't  be  so  desper- 
ate as  all  that.  Since  you  have  been  so  con- 
fidential with  me,  and  as  we  are  members  of 
the  same  family,  I  will  be  equally  confidential 
with  you.  Although  I  have  always  yearned 
to  be  recognised  as  a  member  of  the  distin- 
guished family  of  De  Latour,  I  admit  that  I 
have  no  proof,  and  my  calling  might  be  con- 
sidered against  me.  I  am  a  soap-boiler." 

"  I  assure  you,"  said  Louis,  "  I  have  no 
prejudice  whatever  against  soap." 

"  That's  because  you  don't  know  what 
goes  into  it,"  returned  Monsieur  de  Latour. 
"  For  my  part,  I  have  not  used  a  piece  of  soap 
for  twenty  years.  I  use  this  instead." 

He  took  out  of  his  pocket  a  little  box  of 
fine  white  sand,  showed  it  to  Louis  and  then 
put  it  back. 

"  But  I  have  always  had  a  soul  above  soap- 
boiling.  I  began  at  it  when  I  was  a  mere  lad 
in  the  soap-boiling  factory  of  Cheri,  and  a  bet- 
13 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

ter  man  than  old  Cheri  never  lived.  Twenty 
years  ago  I  started  in  business  on  my  own  ac- 
count, and  to-day  I  can  retire  at  any  moment 
that  I  like  with  a  fortune  twice  as  large  as  I 
have  hoped  to  accumulate.  Now,  as  you  see, 
I  am  not  an  old  man,  and  I  have  determined 
to  stop  work  and  enjoy  my  fortune  while  I 
can.  Two  things  are  necessary  to  my  enjoy- 
ment of  it — the  first  that  I  shall  be  recognised 
as  a  member  of  the  distinguished  family  of 
De  Latour,  and  the  second  is  that  I  shall 
marry." 

"  Pray  proceed,"  said  Louis;  "  I  am  most 
interested  in  all  you  tell  me.  So  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  I  can  only  say  that  I  should,  at 
present,  gladly  recognise  a  ragpicker  who  had 
a  fortune  as  a  member  of  my  family." 

Old  De  Latour  laughed  at  this. 

"  At  least,  I  am  not  as  bad  as  that.  All  I 
want  is  a  good  batch  of  ancestors." 

"  And  all  I  want,"  groaned  Louis,  "  is  to 
get  rid  of  my  ancestors,  for  they  have  brought 
nothing  but  misfortune  upon  me." 

"  Very  well,  why  couldn't  we  come  to  an 
agreement?  Money  for  ancestors,  eh?" 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


"  I  should  be  perfectly  delighted.  I  will 
take  one  hundred  francs  for  the  whole  lot." 

"Oh,  you  are  trifling!  What  I  mean  is 
this — that  you  should  recognise  me  as  a  rela- 
tive. This  would  enable  me  to  use  the  De 
Latour  crest,  and  it  would  make  those  idiots 
in  my  native  town  of  Brionville,  who  have 
laughed  at  my  pretensions,  laugh  on  the  other 
side  of  their  faces.  Couldn't  you  perch  me 
somewhere  on  the  family  tree?  " 

"  On  the  very  highest  branch,  if  you  like." 

"  Young  man,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
drawing  still  closer  to  Louis  until  their  noses 
almost  touched,  and  tapping  him  on  the  shoul- 
der, "  you  don't  take  this  business  seriously 
enough.  You  see,  to  recognise  me  as  a  mem- 
ber of  a  noble  family  would  very  much  assist 
me  in  that  other  plan  of  marriage.  How 
would  it  suit  you  if  I  were  to  adopt  you  legally 
as  my  nephew,  according  to  the  custom  so 
common  in  our  country,  and  settle  upon  you, 
say,  three  hundred  thousand  francs?  " 

Scarcely  were  the  words  out  of  Monsieur 
de  Latour's  mouth  than  Louis  rushed  upon 
him,  squeezed  him  so  hard  that  his  ribs  seemed 
15 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

likely  to  break,  and  covered  the  top  of  his  bald 
head  with  kisses. 

"  Come,  come,"  cried  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
struggling  breathlessly  against  this  over- 
whelming demonstration,  "  this  is  too  much ! 
You  will  strangle  me !  " 

Louis,  at  this,  released  his  hold,  and  seizing 
the  old  gentleman's  umbrella  and  hat,  covered 
them  with  kisses,  murmuring: 

"  Three  hundred  thousand  francs — dear, 
dear  uncle !  " 

Then,  suddenly  dropping  them,  he  said : 

"  No,  it  cannot  be  true.  My  dear  sir,  you 
must  be  either  drunk  or  crazy." 

"  No,  I  am  not,"  answered  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  laughing.  "It  is  worth  three  hun- 
dred thousand  francs  to  me  to  have  the  notice 
put  in  the  Brionville  newspaper  that  I  am  vis- 
iting my  relative  at  the  Chateau  of  Mont- 
plaisir,  and  to  put  the  De  Latour  crest  on  my 
carriage  without  being  arrested  for  it." 

"  You  may  have  it  tattooed  on  your  body 

if  you  like,"  replied  Louis  joyfully.     "  Three 

hundred  thousand  francs !     If  I  did  not  think 

it  a  base  return  for  your  splendid  offer,   I 

16 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


should  insist  that  you  take  possession  of  this 
old  rat-trap  of  a  chateau." 

"  Well,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  "  I  am 
a  man  of  business  as  well  as  a  descendant  of 
a  great  feudal  family,  so  I  will  wish  to  settle 
this  matter  of  adoption  upon  a  proper  basis. 
You  know,  of  course,  that  under  our  laws  it  is 
a  very  serious  thing.  It  implies  a  degree  of 
legal  responsibility  which,  I  am  afraid,  my 
young  friend,  you  scarcely  appreciate.  You 
see,  I  have  had  to  do  with  large  affairs,  and  I 
know  what  the  legal  obligation  means.  If  I 
adopt  you  as  my  nephew  I  should  acquire  over 
you  all  the  authority  of  a  parent.  You  could 
not  marry  without  first  asking  my  consent,  for 
example." 

"  Yes,  I  know,  I  know.  Three  hundred 
thousand  francs !  Dear,  dear  uncle  I  " — and 
Louis  again  made  demonstrations  toward  em- 
bracing Monsieur  de  Latour,  which  the  old 
gentleman  cleverly  warded  off  with  his  um- 
brella. 

"  So  now  you  understand  fully  the  legal 
obligations  of  adoption  under  the  French 
law?" 

17 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  believe  you  own  me,  body  and 
soul !  I  shall  not  only  have  to  ask  your  con- 
sent before  I  can  get  married,  but  before  I 
get  shaved,  or  even  sneeze.  But  I  am  willing 
to  risk  it  for  three  hundred  thousand  francs." 

"  Don't  be  afraid.  I  shan't  attempt  to 
coerce  you  in  any  way  whatever.  By  the  way, 
what  is  your  full  name?  " 

"  Louis  Victor  de  Latour." 

"  And  mine,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour  de- 
lightedly, "  is  Victor  Louis  de  Latour." 

"  Why,  I  believe  you  are  my  uncle,  after 
all!" 

"  Isn't  it  a  lucky  coincidence?  Now,  I  will 
tell  you  what  my  ideas  are  with  regard  to  mar- 
riage. I  have  a  good  many  ideas  on  the  sub- 
ject." 

"  And  I  have  only  one,  and  that  is  to 
marry  the  girl  I  love,  and  through  you,  dear 
uncle " 

Here  Louis  made  another  dive  at  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  hugged  him  violently  in  spite  of  his 
struggles,  and  again  covered  the  umbrella  and 
hat  with  kisses,  whispering  to  himself: 

"Dear,  dear  Julie!" 
18 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


Monsieur  de  Latour,  like  most  persons, 
when  talking  of  himself  was  eloquent  and  ex- 
pansive. He  squared  himself  off,  putting  his 
thumbs  in  his  armholes,  and  said  solemnly  : 

"  The  catastrophe  will  begin." 

But  the  rickety  chair,  giving  way  under  his 
weight,  suddenly  collapsed,  and  in  another 
second  he  was  sprawling  upon  the  floor. 
Louis  helped  him  up,  dusted  his  coat,  and  giv- 
ing him  the  only  remaining  chair,  himself  took 
a  seat  upon  the  table. 

"  Rather  awkward,  that,"  said  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  rubbing  his  shins.  "  You  must  get 
some  better  chairs  out  of  your  three  hundred 
thousand  francs.  Well,  when  I  was  in  the 
house  of  Cheri  I  fell  very  much  in  love  with 
Mademoiselle  Seline  Cheri,  but  she  was  then 
far  above  me,  and  remained  so  for  twenty 
years.  She  is  still  unmarried,  and  a  pretty 
woman  yet,  although  no  longer  young,  and  a 
good  one,  too,  and  until  I  got  this  noble  fam- 
ily bee  in  my  bonnet  I  strongly  desired  to 
marry  Mademoiselle  Seline.  But  it  seems  to 
me  now  that  we  have  had  quite  enough  of 
soap-boiling  in  the  De  Latour  family,  and  I 
19 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

might  look  higher.  There  is  a  Comtesse  de 
Beauregard,  for  example." 

At  that  Louis's  heart  jumped  into  his 
throat  and  remained  there,  thumping,  while 
Monsieur  de  Latour  continued : 

"  You  may  be  surprised  that  a  man  of  my 
position  should  have  any  connection  with  a 
lady  of  Madame  de  Beauregard's  rank,  but 
it  happened  in  this  way.  Her  brother,  the 
Vicomte  de  Bresac,  honoured  me  with  his 
friendship,  and  when  he  died  he  left  me  as 
guardian  of  the  property  of  his  only  child 
Julie." 

Then  the  room  began  to  whirl  around 
before  Louis's  misty  eyes,  and  he  heard, 
as  in  a  dream,  old  De  Latour's  voice  con- 
tinuing: 

"  Madame  de  Beauregard  has  charge  of 
the  young  lady  herself,  and,  in  fact,  I  have 
never  seen  my  ward,  but  I  have  seen  the  old 
aunt.  Great  Heavens,  what  a  creature !  She 
is  a  woman  of  sixty  who  thinks  she  is  twenty, 
and  acts  accordingly.  When  that  old  lady  is 
awake  the  devil  sleeps  because  he  knows  that 
all  of  his  business  is  being  well  attended  to. 
20 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


I  don't  know  what  sort  of  pranks  she  may  lead 
my  ward  into,  but  I  am  not  responsible  for 
anything  except  for  Julie's  money,  which  is 
considerable.  Madame  de  Beauregard  has 
one  of  those  chateaux  which  carry  a  title  with 
it,  and  if  I  marry  her  I  should  become  a 
comte.  That's  a  great  temptation,  you  know ; 
that  is,  if  I  could  murder  the  old  lady  imme- 
diately after  the  ceremony.  But,  seriously,  it 
would  be  an  immense  triumph  at  Brionville  if 
I  should  marry  the  sister  of  the  Vicomte  de 
Bresac,  and  it  would  serve  Seline  Cheri  right 
for  not  having  married  me  in  all  these  years. 
Still,  I  am  not  yet  determined.  Sometimes 
I  think  I  should  like  to  marry  a  pretty  young 
girl,  but  then  people  would  call  me  an  old 
fool.  The  subject  of  marriage  is  always  full 
of  doubts." 

"  Quite  so,"  answered  Louis  mechanically. 

His  mind  had  wandered  to  Julie  and  those 
sunny  days  in  Algiers  when,  with  his  heart  full 
of  love  and  his  pockets  quite  empty  of  money, 
he  adored  her  and  received  those  secret  sweet 
assurances  which  a  woman  can  always  give  the 
man  she  loves. 

21 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  Well,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  con- 
tinuing to  talk  upon  the  subject  most  agree- 
able to  him  in  the  world — that  is,  himself — 
"  a  curious  thing  has  just  happened  to  me 
with  regard  to  Mademoiselle  Cheri.  I  have 
a  young  niece,  Melanie  Dupont,  who  has  lived 
with  me  for  several  years.  We  were  starting 
for  Dinard  to  spend  a  month,  when  her 
companion,  a  worthy,  respectable  person,  was 
taken  ill  and  could  not  come  with  us.  Melanie 
found  out  that  Mademoiselle  Cheri  had  a 
notion  for  Dinard,  and  as  the  two  are  great 
friends  she  persuaded  me  to  let  her  come  with 
Mademoiselle  Cheri.  Melanie,  you  must 
know,  is  always  begging  me  to  marry  Ma- 
demoiselle Cheri  and  begging  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  to  marry  me.  At  all  events,  I  agreed 
that  the  two  should  come  to  Dinard  together, 
and  they  are  now  at  a  villa  in  the  town  and 
very  happy  with  each  other.  But,  of  course, 
this  is  a  merely  temporary  arrangement,  and 
I  have  put  an  advertisement  in  the  newspapers 
for  a  chaperon  for  my  niece.  It  would  seem 
a  good  scheme  for  you  and  Melanie  to  make 
a  match,  but,  unfortunately,  the  girl  has  be- 
22 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


come  attached  to  Eugene  de  Contiac,  the 
nephew  of  the  Comtesse  de  Beauregard." 

Louis,  feeling  himself  called  upon  to  make 
some  remark,  although  his  wits  were  still  wool- 
gathering, said  absently : 

"  Such  a  match  as  that  for  your  niece  I 
should  think  would  satisfy  your  ambition." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  shook  his  head  dole- 
fully. 

"  The  only  trouble  is  that  Eugene  has  not 
a  sou  of  his  own.  He  is  naturally  pious,  re- 
served, and  strictly  correct  in  his  conduct,  and 
my  niece  is  of  the  same  character.  But  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard  is  determined  to  convert 
him  into  the  wildest  rake  in  France  and  drives 
him  into  dissipations  to  make  a  man  of  him, 
as  she  says.  As  soon  as  he  engages  in  an  esca- 
pade the  old  lady  makes  a  will  leaving  him 
half  a  million  francs,  and  my  niece,  who  is 
quite  disinterested,  and,  as  I  said,  very  relig- 
ious, promptly  jilts  him.  Then  Eugene  is  con- 
science-stricken at  his  behaviour,  turns  pious 
again,  is  received  back  into  my  niece's  affec- 
tions, and  is  at  once  disinherited  in  another  will 
by  Madame  de  Beauregard.  It  is  a  regular 
23 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAIS1R 

seesaw.  That  old  woman  actually  carries  an 
advocate  in  her  suite  for  the  purpose  of  mak- 
ing and  destroying  wills.  It  is  a  very  difficult 
problem  for  me,  because  at  one  time  Eugene 
is  a  very  desirable  parti,  and  then  my  niece 
won't  look  at  him,  and  next  he  hasn't  a  sou  in 
the  world  and  my  niece  insists  she  will  marry 
him.  Love  and  life  are  great  puzzles." 

"  You  will  never  get  up  a  character  for 
originality  on  that  observation,"  answered 
Louis,  his  mind  still  full  of  Julie.  "  And  so 
you  have  never  seen  your  ward?  "  he  added 
presently. 

"  Never.  Luckily  I  have  no  responsibility 
for  her,  only  for  her  fortune.  But  I  have  seen 
Madame  de  Beauregard,  and  I  have  been  bal- 
ancing in  my  mind  for  the  last  year  whether 
I  shall  marry  her  or  Mademoiselle  Cheri. 
You  see  " — here  Monsieur  de  Latour  assumed 
a  coquettish  air — "  I  can  marry  whom  I 
please." 

"  I  suppose  you  mean  by  that,"  remarked 
Louis,  "  that  you  could  marry  fifty  or  sixty 
ladies  at  once,  but  that  would  hardly  seem  to 
me  to  be  desirable,  if  possible." 
24 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


Monsieur  de  Latour  let  this  sarcasm  pass 
unnoticed,  and  then  said: 

"  By  the  way,  the  old  lady  is  at  Dinard 
now,  I  see  by  the  newspapers." 

"  Is  Mademoiselle  de  Bresac  with  her?  " 
asked  Louis,  his  heart  beginning  to  pound 
again. 

"  I  don't  know.  Her  name  is  not  men- 
tioned," replied  Monsieur  de  Latour.  "  Well, 
now  that  we  have  come  to  terms,  we  had  bet- 
ter arrange  to  have  the  matter  of  adoption 
put  in  legal  form  as  soon  as  possible.  I  think 
it  can  all  be  settled  in  a  few  days.  Don't 
let  anybody  frighten  you  about  the  liberty 
you  will  surrender  in  becoming  legally  my 
nephew." 

"  Nobody  in  the  world  can  frighten  me 
from  accepting  three  hundred  thousand 
francs,"  answered  Louis  determinedly,  the 
vision  of  Julie  before  his  eyes — Julie,  with  her 
pretty  head  upon  his  shoulder,  his  arm  around 
her  waist,  and  all  those  sweet  fantasies  which 
haunt  lovers. 

"  And  of  course  you  were  not  in  earnest 
about  burning  the  chateau  down.  We  shall 

3  25 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

have  to  come  to  some  arrangement  on  this 
point,  too,  because  it  will  add  very  much  to 
my  consequence  to  have  this  place  in  exist- 
ence. True,  it  would  require  a  fortune  to 
rehabilitate  it,  but  we  might  have  a  new 
roof  and  all  the  windows  put  in  and  rebuild 
one  wing.  Then,  if  you  should  marry  an 
heiress,  you  might  repair  the  whole  build- 
ing, or  I  might.  Soap-boiling  is  exceedingly 
profitable,  if  you  know  what  to  put  in  the 
soap." 

"  You  or  anybody  else  are  at  liberty  to  re- 
pair this  old  barrack,"  answered  Louis  with 
the  greatest  cordiality. 

The  elder  De  Latour  rose  to  take  his  depar- 
ture, saying  affectionately: 

"  Adieu,  my  dear  nephew." 

Louis's  reply  to  this  was  to  seize  Monsieur 
de  Latour  in  his  arms. 

"  Good  Heavens !  "  cried  the  old  gentle- 
man, fighting  off  Louis's  frantic  demonstra- 
tions to  kiss  him,  "  I  can't  stand  this  sort  of 
thing." 

"  But  you  must !  "  exclaimed  Louis  raptur- 
ously. "  How  can  I  restrain  my  transports  in 
26 


UNCLE   AND   NEPHEW 


the  presence  of  a  man  who  has  promised  to 
give  me  three  hundred  thousand  francs,  to 
repair  this  old  barn,  and  to  make  me  his 
nephew  ?  It  must  be  a  part  of  the  agreement 
that  I  am  entitled  to  embrace  and  kiss  you  at 
least  three  times  a  day — nothing  less  will  con- 
tent me." 

"  And  I,"  panted  Monsieur  de  Latour,  re- 
treating toward  the  door,  "  must  protect 
myself  from  these  vigorous  demonstrations. 
Once  a  day  ought  to  suffice  you." 

"  No,  no !  "  cried  Louis,  pursuing  him  to 
the  door,  which  Monsieur  de  Latour  opened 
precipitately,  nearly  knocking  down  old  Su- 
zette,  who  was  listening  at  the  keyhole. 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  taking  advantage  of  this 
diversion,  waddled  rapidly  down  the  corridor, 
calling  out: 

"  Another  such  hug  as  that  will  cost  you  at 
least  one  hundred  thousand  francs !  I  shall 
be  here  at  ten  o'clock  to-morrow  morning  for 
our  business  interview." 

And  he  disappeared,  while  Louis,  seizing 
old  Suzette  in  his  arms,  much  to  that  worthy 
woman's  astonishment,  began  to  waltz  up  and 
27 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

down  the  saloon,  shouting  at  the  top  of  his 
voice : 

"  Julie,   I   love  you !  Julie,   I   adore  you ! 
Julie,  I  shall  marry  you !  " 


28 


II 

AUNT   AND   NIECE 

'GUIS,  having  waltzed  raptur- 
ously with  old  Suzette  in  the 
corridor  for  fully  ten  minutes, 
returned  to  the  saloon — ironi- 
cally called  the  grand  saloon — and  began  to 
pace  up  and  down,  showing  his  joy  in  every 
motion  of  his  graceful  figure  and  every  ex- 
pression of  his  handsome  and  vivacious  coun- 
tenance. His  heart  and  mind  were  full  of 
Julie,  and  as  he  murmured  her  name  to 
himself,  the  rain  stopped,  the  clouds  parted 
softly  and  swiftly,  and  a  flood  of  sunlight 
burst  into  the  room. 

"  Julie,  perhaps,  is  at  Dinard,"  Louis  kept 
repeating  to  himself  until  he  actually  per- 
suaded himself  that  she  must  be  there. 

Then  looking  at  his  watch  and  seeing  that 
it  was  after  twelve  o'clock,  he  determined  to 
29 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

hunt  up  Madame  de  Beauregard.  He  rushed 
to  the  barrack  which  he  occupied  as  a  bed- 
room, and  made  a  toilet  suitable  for  calling 
upon  ladies  in  the  morning — his  one  white 
flannel  suit,  his  one  pair  of  black  silk  stock- 
ings, his  one  pair  of  white  shoes,  and  a  new 
straw  hat  with  a  black  ribbon  around  it.  He 
surveyed  himself  in  the  glass  with  the  earnest- 
ness of  a  man  desirous  to  please,  but  in  truth 
he  need  have  given  himself  small  concern  on 
that  score,  because  he  had  that  combination  of 
good  looks,  good  manners,  good  temper,  and 
ineffable  impudence  which  is  always  irresist- 
ible to  women. 

He  did  not  know  where  the  Comtesse  de 
Beauregard  was  staying  in  the  town,  but  that 
was  easily  to  be  ascertained.  Wherever 
Madame  de  Beauregard  went  she  always 
made  a  commotion.  She  carried  with  her  a 
retinue,  not  of  dogs,  cats,  and  birds,  such  as 
ladies  of  her  age  usually  affect,  but  of  human 
beings,  mostly  men. 

Louis,  walking  rapidly  through  the  sunny 
streets  of  the  town,  gay  with  the  morning 
gaiety  of  Dinard,  bought  a  newspaper  at  the 
30 


AUNT  AND   NIECE 


first  kiosk  he  found,  and  in  the  list  of  arrivals 
at  one  of  the  most  fashionable  hotels  he  saw 
the  name  of  Madame  de  Beauregard,  with 
three  maids  and  two  valets,  Monsieur  Eugene 
de  Contiac,  and  Monsieur  Bertoux,  advocate. 
Louis's  joy  was  slightly  dashed  at  the  absence 
of  Julie's  name,  and  he  was  walking  discon- 
solately enough  along  the  shady  street  when  he 
suddenly  ran  almost  into  the  arms  of  Madame 
de  Beauregard.  And  there,  standing  a  little 
way  off,  smiling,  blushing,,  and  dimpling,  was 
Julie.  She  was  radiant,  all  in  white  except  a 
splendid  red  rose  which  bloomed  upon  her 
breast. 

The  Comtesse  de  Beauregard,  who  would 
never  see  sixty  again,  small,  elegant,  with  a 
laughing  devil  in  her  eye,  but  with  a  counte- 
nance not  devoid  of  good-nature,  was  dressed 
in  a  costume  which  matched  Julie's  exactly, 
red  rose  and  all.  A  sailor  hat  was  tipped 
back  upon  her  elaborately  frizzed  white  hair, 
for  the  old  lady  scorned  disguise  in  any  form, 
and  wore  frankly,  without  any  make-up,  the 
costumes  which  would  have  suited  a  chit  of 
sixteen.  Her  short  white  skirt  showed  her 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

little  feet  encased  in  the  most  daring  of  em- 
broidered red  silk  stockings,  which  she  evi- 
dently wore  to  be  seen.  She  carried  a  dainty 
white  parasol  in  her  hand,  and  playfully 
prodding  Louis  in  the  ribs,  cried : 

"  Here  is  our  young  cavalier  from  Algiers. 
Naughty  boy !  Why  didn't  you  let  me  know 
that  you  were  here?  Men  are  so  scarce  now- 
adays, and  hard  to  catch."  And  she  tweaked 
Louis's  left  ear  playfully. 

Louis,  his  eyes  still  on  Julie  and  his  hat  in 
his  hand,  murmured : 

"  I  only  found  out  an  hour  ago  that  you, 
madame,  were  here,  and  I  was  on  my  way  to 
your  hotel  to  call  upon  you." 

"'I  dare  say  you  are  telling  the  truth,"  an- 
swered the  old  lady,  twirling  her  parasol 
around  her  head  gaily.  "  The  men  of  the 
present  day  haven't  spirit  enough  to  tell  a 
good,  robust  lie.  In  my  day  it  was  the  fash- 
ion for  gentlemen  to  tell  great  big  lies  to 
ladies,  but  the  whole  sex  has  reformed  now 
almost  past  endurance.  By  the  way,  I  under- 
stand you  have  inherited  a  fine,  large  chateau 
close  by." 

32 


Here  is  our  young  cavalier  from   Algiers.'  " 


AUNT   AND   NIECE 


Julie,  meanwhile,  had  opened  her  mouth 
several  times  to  speak,  but  in  vain.  It  was 
always  difficult  for  other  women  to  be  heard 
when  Madame  de  Beauregard  was  present. 

"  Fine !  No,  madame.  I  am  thinking 
of  changing  the  name  from  the  Chateau  of 
Montplaisir  to  the  Chateau  of  Monmisere,  or 
calling  it  the  chateau  of  rats  and  mice,  or 
something  of  the  sort.  But  it  is  large !  " 

"  And  have  you  seen  or  heard  anything  of 
a  grotesque  old  party  of  your  name,  a  soap- 
boiler by  trade,  who  is  extremely  anxious  to 
be  considered  a  member  of  your  family?  " 
asked  the  old  lady. 

Julie's  mouth  was  opened  for  the  fourth 
time  to  speak,  but,  as  usual,  Madame  de 
Beauregard  gave  her  not  the  ghost  of  a  chance 
to  be  heard. 

"  He  came  to  see  me  this  morning,"  replied 
Louis. 

"  You  are  indebted  to  me  for  that,"  cried 
Madame  de  Beauregard.  "  You  know  he  is 
as  rich  as  Aladdin,  and  quite  respectable.  If 
he  were  not  so  tediously  correct  in  his  conduct, 
and  of  such  tiresome  propriety,  I  think  I 
33 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

should  marry  him  for  his  money.  You  know 
he  was  a  friend  of  Julie's  father,  my  brother, 
who  made  him  trustee  of  her  fortune,  and  as 
I  have  charge  of  Julie  I  have  met  Monsieur 
de  Latour  several  times.  I  told  him  about 
you,  and  put  the  notion  into  his  head  of  es- 
tablishing some  sort  of  relationship  with  you. 
When  we  were  in  Algiers  you  made  a  very 
favourable  impression  upon  me.  I  really  be- 
lieve you  capable  of  mischief,  unlike  that  poor 
rag  of  a  man,  my  nephew,  Eugene  de  Con- 
tiac.  He  is  in  love,  you  know,  with  old  De 
Latour's  niece  Melanie,  who  is  twice  as  pious 
as  Eugene.  To  think  that  I  should  not  only 
have  a  pious  man  in  my  family,  but  should 
run  the  risk  of  the  type  being  perpetuated! 
However,  my  family  were  all  born  to  ill 
luck." 

"  I  am  a  thousand  times  obliged  to  you," 
answered  Louis,  his  eyes  glued  on  Julie,  who 
made  a  last  desperate  effort  to  speak,  but  was 
cut  short  promptly  by  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard. 

"  Now  we  have  the  finest  joke  in  the  world 
afoot  to  play  off  on  old  De  Latour.  He  is 
34 


AUNT   AND   NIECE 


advertising  in  the  newspapers  for  a  companion 
for  that  niece  of  his,  and  I  put  it  into  Julie's 
head  to  try  to  get  the  place.  Old  De  Latour 
has  never  seen  her,  you  know.  What  larks 
we  shall  have  when  we  get  Julie  established 
as  Melanie's  companion.  She  will  have 
strict  orders  from  me  to  get  some  of  the  piety 
and  propriety  out  of  that  girl,  because  I  don't 
want  any  piety  or  propriety  in  my  family.  I 
have  too  much  already." 

Louis  felt  like  disputing  this  proposition, 
and  Julie  again  opened  her  lips  to  speak,  but, 
as  usual,  it  was  in  vain. 

"  So  now,"  cried  the  old  lady,  "  you  may 
look  out  for  some  amusement!  I  intend  to 
have  a  gay  time  at  Dinard.  General  Granier 
is  here,  you  know,  and  a  few  men.  I  don't 
call  every  biped  wearing  trousers  a  man,  if  you 
please.  It  is  only  those  with  life  and  spirit 
in  them  who,  I  think,  deserve  the  name. 
Come,  Julie,  it  is  time  for  our  lesson  in  skirt- 
dancing." 

As  the  old  lady,  seizing  Julie,  skipped  off, 
Julie  turned  her  head  and  managed  to  articu- 
late one  sentence  only,  and  this  was : 
35 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

"  Good  morning,  monsieur." 

Louis  stood  still  and  swore  silently  at  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard,  but  he  was  happy,  after 
all,  for  Julie  was  there.  And  then,  what  de- 
licious possibilities  of  seeing  her  were  involved 
in  that  practical  joke  which  Madame  de 
Beauregard  proposed  to  play  on  Monsieur 
de  Latour. 

With  these  thoughts  animating  him  Louis 
determined  to  carry  out  his  original  intention 
and  leave  cards  on  the  ladies  at  their  hotel. 
This  he  did,  feeling  as  if  he  were  walking  on 
air.  Then  he  strolled  about  the  town  for  an 
hour  or  two,  and  presently,  led  by  his  good 
genius,  he  went  down  to  the  beach,  where  the 
sea  was  like  molten  gold  under  the  summer 
sky.  The  first  object  that  met  his  eye  among 
the  crowd  of  bathers  was  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard, in  a  bright  red  bathing  suit,  disporting 
herself  like  a  mermaid  in  the  waves.  And 
oh,  joy  and  rapture,  a  little  way  off  stood 
Julie,  looking  like  a  tall  lily  flower  in  her 
pretty  white  gown !  Louis  flew  toward  her 
and  received  a  welcome  from  her  eyes. 

"  Mademoiselle,"  he  whispered,  "  do  you 
36 


AUNT   AND    NIECE 


know  what  my  first  thought  was  when  I  in- 
herited the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir  ?  " 

It  was  one  of  those  questions  which  require 
no  answer.  Julie,  whose  eyes  were  usually 
dancing  with  merriment  and  as  fearless  as  a 
child's,  lowered  her  long  lashes,  but  in  a  mo- 
ment she  raised  her  glance  and  said : 

"  Was  it  of  me  you  were  thinking,  mon- 
sieur? " 

"  Yes,  yes,  yes,  mademoiselle !  And  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  has  offered  to  adopt  me  as  his 
nephew  and  give  me  three  hundred  thousand 
francs  if  I  will  recognise  him  as  the  head  of 
the  younger  branch  of  the  family.  O  Julie, 
dearest!" 

At  that  moment  Madame  de  Beauregard, 
in  her  red  bathing  suit,  came  rushing  out  of 
the  water  and  dashing  up  to  Louis,  shrieked 
gaily: 

"  Come,  now,  go  and  get  a  bathing  suit 
and  come  into  the  water  with  me,  and  I  will 
show  you  how  to  turn  a  somersault." 

Louis  fled,  hotly  pursued  for  a  short  dis- 
tance by  the  old  lady ;  but  years  and  wind  told, 
and  Madame  de  Beauregard  had  to  return  to 
37 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

the  sea,  keeping  her  eyes  open  for  a  young 
man  more  complaisant  than  Louis.  But  Julie 
walked  up  and  down  the  sand  in  the  blazing 
sunlight,  listening  to  the  quick  beating  of  her 
own  heart  which  was  flooded  with  the  sun- 
shine of  life  and  love. 


Ill 


GAY    DINARD 

HE  fine  weather  continued  dur- 
ing the  afternoon,  and  the 
August  sun,  shining  out  bril- 
liantly, drove  the  silvery  mists 
oceanward,  turned  the  sea  and  shore  into  a 
splendour  of  blue  and  gold,  and  made  a  glory 
of  the  fields  and  woods  about  the  merry  little 
town. 

All  the  world  was  out  of  doors,  including 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  Mademoiselle  Cheri, 
and  Melanie,  who  were  having  tea  in  the  gar- 
den of  the  Villa  Rose — a  gardenlike  paradise. 
Mademoiselle  Cheri  was  a  comely  woman, 
although  past  middle  age,  but  in  her  some- 
what plain  face  was  the  charm  and  repose  of 
a  sweet  nature.  Mademoiselle  Cheri  had  re- 
markably good  sense  mixed  with  her  sweet- 
39 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

ness,  and  by  no  means  shared  all  of  her 
ex-lover's  projects  and  ambitions.  Melanie, 
on  the  contrary,  pretty,  pious,  and  trustful, 
thought  her  uncle  the  wisest  of  men. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  much  elated  at  the  re- 
sult of  his  visit  to  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir 
and  his  recognition  as  a  member  of  the  noble 
house  of  De  Latour,  being  unable  to  keep  the 
cat  in  the  bag,  let  it  escape  before  he  had 
finished  his  first  cup  of  tea.  He  began  by  an- 
nouncing with  a  lofty  air  to  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  that  he  had  spent  the  morning  making 
the  acquaintance  of  his  relative,  the  head  of 
the  house  of  De  Latour,  at  his  Chateau  of 
Montplaisir,  and  described  with  perfect  truth 
the  rapturous  greeting  he  had  received  from 
his  new-found  relative.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, mention  the  three  hundred  thousand 
francs  which  he  had  offered  for  the  privilege 
of  making  Louis  his  nephew  and  of  putting 
the  De  Latour  crest  upon  every  one  of  his  per- 
sonal belongings  on  which  he  could  stick  it. 
He,  however,  announced  that  he  had  arranged 
to  meet  Louis  the  next  morning,  in  order  to 
trace  up  their  exact  relationship.  "  I,"  he 
40 


GAY  DINARD 


said  pompously,  "  being  the  head  of  the 
younger  branch  of  the  family." 

At  this  Mademoiselle  Cheri  sniffed,  if  so 
pleasant  a  creature  could  be  said  to  sniff. 

"  How  much,  monsieur,"  she  asked  sweetly, 
"  did  you  pay  for  your  place  on  the  family 
tree?" 

Monsieur  de  Latour  scowled.  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri  was  treating  him  exactly  as  if  he 
were  still  a  clerk  in  the  soap-boiling  factory  of 
Cheri  and  Company,  and  he  suspected  that  she 
already  considered  him  her  own  matrimonial 
prize  and  hence  took  liberties  beforehand. 

"  Nothing  whatever,  mademoiselle,"  he  an- 
swered stiffly,  "  but  I  may  say  that  it  is  ex- 
tremely likely  I  may  become  the  owner  of  the 
Chateau  of  Montplaisir  and  the  head  of  the 
family." 

And  then,  determined  to  impress  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri  with  a  sense  of  his  own  dignity,  he 
added: 

"  My  connection  with  my  new  relative  is 

likely  to  become  closer,  because  we  were  so 

mutually  pleased  with  each  other  that  we  have 

agreed  to  assume  legally  the  status  of  uncle 

4  41 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPL4ISIR 

and  nephew — a  common  enough  arrangement 
in  France,  which  could  be  well  imitated  in 
other  countries." 

"  That  must  have  cost  you  a  good  many 
francs,"  said  Mademoiselle  Cheri  coolly. 

"  Only  three  hundred  thousand,"  tartly  re- 
sponded Monsieur  de  Latour,  determined  to 
let  Mademoiselle  Cheri  know  that  three  hun- 
dred thousand  francs  was  a  mere  bagatelle 
with  him. 

Even  Melanie  started  at  this,  and  cried: 

"O  uncle!" 

But  Mademoiselle  Cheri  showed  not  the 
least  surprise,  merely  saying : 

"  I  thought  that,  in  your  craze  for  family 
consequence  and  a  crest  on  your  carriage,  you 
would  do  something  of  the  kind." 

"  A  great  many  people  would  if  they 
could,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour  darkly. 
"  Give  me  another  cup  of  tea,  Melanie." 

"  A  great  many  more  would  not,"  replied 
Mademoiselle  Cheri ;  "  I,  for  example.  My 
father  was  an  honest,  respectable  soap-boiler, 
well  thought  of  by  all  who  knew  him — a  good 
father,  a  good  friend,  a  good  citizen.  That  is 
42 


GAY   DINARD 


enough  for  me.  I  would  not  pay  three  hun- 
dred francs  to  be  recognised  as  sixty-fourth 
cousin  by  the  greatest  family  in  France." 

Here  Melanie,  seeing  that  her  uncle  and  her 
friend  were  fast  approaching  a  quarrel,  inter- 
posed by  taking  a  letter  out  of  her  pocket. 

"  This  letter,"  she  said  hurriedly,  "  is,  I 
think,  an  answer  to  our  advertisement." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  opened  the  letter.  It 
bore,  in  the  fine  stationery  and  elegant,  if 
somewhat  illegible,  handwriting,  all  the  evi- 
dences of  refinement.  The  advertisement, 
which  read  as  follows,  was  pinned  to  it : 

WANTED — A  companion  for  a  young  lady  of  good 
family.  Must  be  well  educated,  a  musician  and  linguist, 
and  of  unexceptionable  family.  Apply  by  letter  to  MON- 
SIEUR VICTOR  Louis  DE  LATOUR,  POSTE  RESTANTE. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  with  some  difficulty, 
made  out  the  letter,  which  was  as  follows : 

Mademoiselle  de  Courcey  offers  her  services  as  com- 
panion in  answer  to  the  above  advertisement.  Mademoi- 
selle de  Courcey  can  furnish  unexceptionable  references  as 
to  her  acquirements  and  associations,  and  will  be  pleased 
to  meet  any  appointment  for  a  personal  interview. 

The  name  De  Courcey  made  a  great  impres- 
43 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

sion  on  Monsieur  de  Latour,  to  whom  names 
and  titles  were  important  things. 

"  Now,  I  like  that  letter,"  he  said.  "  It's 
very  businesslike.  It  is  evidently  written  by 
a  mature  and  experienced  woman.  That  is 
clearly  shown  in  the  letter — nothing  super- 
fluous, a  plain  statement  of  fact  and  desires  an 
interview.  Melanie,  my  love,  you  may  write 
in  my  name  and  suggest  an  appointment  at 
this  villa  at  five  o'clock  to-morrow  afternoon. 
Of  course,  mademoiselle,"  he  added,  turning 
to  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  "  I  appreciate  more 
than  I  can  express  your  kindness  to  Melanie, 
and  as  long  as  you  will  allow  her  to  remain 
with  you  she  will,  I  know,  be  very  happy  to 
do  so.  I  shall  feel  most  grateful  to  you,  but 
I  do  not  wish  to  impose  upon  you.  If  this 
lady  is  all  that. she  appears  to  be,  I  could  en- 
gage her  on  trial  and  establish  her  in  this  villa, 
so  that  I  could  have  the  benefit  of  your  judg- 
ment upon  her  qualifications." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  said  this  much,  for 

after  all  he  had  a  soft  spot  in  his  heart  for 

Mademoiselle  Cheri.     He  could  not  forget 

when  he  had  been  a  clerk  in  her  father's  fac- 

44 


GAY   DINARD 


tory  and  sweet  Seline  Cheri  had  been  the  star 
of  his  existence;  but  that  was  before  he  be- 
came the  prospective  uncle  of  the  head  of  the 
house  of  De  Latour. 

"  Certainly.  I  think  the  arrangement  an 
admirable  one,"  replied  Mademoiselle  Cheri; 
"  and,  by  the  way,  monsieur,  do  you  know 
that  your  friend  the  Comtesse  de  Beauregard 
is  at  Dinard?  I  saw  her  going  into  her  hotel 
this  morning.  She  had  her  whole  retinue 
with  her.  There  was  our  poor,  dear  Eu- 
gene " — for  Mademoiselle  Cheri  was  in  the 
confidence  of  the  lovers — "  her  advocate  and 
man  of  business,  Monsieur  Bertoux,  two 
valets,  and  three  maids." 

There  was  not  a  suspicion  of  jealousy  in 
Mademoiselle  Cheri's  voice  as  she  said  this, 
which  very  much  annoyed  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour.  He  therefore  smiled  significantly. 

"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  I  fancied  Madame  de 
Beauregard  would  turn  up  at  Dinard  about 
this  time !  In  my  last  communication  to  her 
concerning  her  niece  I  mentioned  that  I  would 
be  at  Dinard  for  the  month  of  August." 

"  And  you  think  she  came  here  to  see  you  ?  " 
45 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

asked  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  with  a  suspicious 
innocence. 

"  Oh,  no,  no,  no,  I  never  said  that !  But 
she  is  a  very  fascinating  woman,  and  the  man 
who  marries  her  will  get  an  ancestral  seat 
which  carries  with  it  a  title." 

"  I  think,"  responded  Mademoiselle  Cheri 
calmly,  "  that  you  are  likely  to  have  one  an- 
cestral seat  too  many  now." 

Meanwhile  Melanie,  at  the  mention  of  Eu- 
gene, leaned  her  head  pensively  on  her  hand. 
Two  tears  gathered  in  her  pretty  blue  eyes 
and  dropped  down  upon  her  cheeks.  She  had 
not  seen  Eugene  de  Contiac  for  months,  nor 
had  she  heard  from  him,  and  by  his  appearing 
at  Dinard  with  his  aunt,  Melanie  knew  well 
enough  that  he  was  leading  a  gay  life,  and  a 
gay  life  modelled  upon  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard's  pattern  was  terrifying  to  the  pious  and 
innocent  Melanie. 

"  I  think,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  after 
finishing  his  second  cup  of  tea,  "  that  I  shall 
call  to  see  Madame  de  Beauregard  this  after- 
noon," and  then,  answering  the  unspoken  wish 
in  Melanie's  face,  he  added: 
46 


GAY   DINARD 


"  I  shall  also  inquire  about  our  friend,  Eu- 
gene de  Contiac." 

"  I  wonder,"  remarked  Mademoiselle 
Cheri,  "  why  that  dreadful  old  scapegrace, 
Madame  de  Beauregard " 

Here  Monsieur  de  Latour  gave  such  a  start 
that  he  almost  upset  the  tea-table.  The  idea 
of  speaking  of  so  great  a  personage  as  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard  as  "  that  dreadful  old 
scapegrace  "  electrified  him.  But  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri  coolly  repeated  the  words. 

"  — dreadful  old  scapegrace,  I  say,  should 
wish  to  make  so  correct  and  prudent  a  young 
man  as  Eugene  de  Contiac  into  a  rake  as  wild 
as  herself.  It  is  more  than  I  can  understand." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  fell  back  into  his  gar- 
den chair.  A  comtesse  of  one  of  the  greatest 
families  in  France  being  called  a  rake !  But, 
he  reflected,  jealousy  was  at  the  bottom  of  all 
of  Mademoiselle  Cheri's  remarks,  and  the  no- 
tion so  tickled  him  that  he  grew  quite  gay 
under  it  and  beamed  on  Mademoiselle  Cheri, 
whom  he  supposed  to  be  cherishing  an  ardent 
passion  for  himself.  By  way  of  punishing 
her,  however,  for  her  disrespectful  attitude 
47 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAIS1R 

toward  Madame  de  Beauregard,  he  rose  and 
said  : 

"  I  think  I  may  as  well  go  and  make  my  call 
now  upon  Madame  de  Beauregard.  It  is  a 
very  good  visiting  hour." 

"  Do,"  replied  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  help- 
ing herself  to  bread  and  butter,  "  and  say  to 
Eugene  de  Contiac  that  I  shall  be  happy  if 
he  will  call  to  see  me.  There  is  a  man  who  is 
as  well  born  as  any  in  France,  but  quite  demo- 
cratic, and  has  always  paid  me  as  many  kind 
attentions  as  if  I  were  the  youngest  and  pret- 
tiest girl  of  his  acquaintance  and  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  duke  instead  of  a  respectable  soap- 
boiler." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  in  a  huff  flung  out  of 
the  garden.  He  decided  that  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  was  getting  old — there  was  no  doubt 
about  that — and  when  people  grew  old  they 
grew  cranky.  He  regarded  himself,  how- 
ever, as  steadily  growing  younger,  and  began 
to  be  disturbed,  in  the  event  that  Madame  de 
Beauregard  should  marry  him,  whether  the 
fact  that  they  were  exactly  the  same  age,  sixty 
years,  might  not  be  against  him. 
48 


GAY   DINARD 


Monsieur  de  Latour,  in  the  August  after- 
noon, walked  along  the  grand  promenade,  gay 
with  elegant-looking  women  and  well-dressed 
men  sitting  at  tables,  chatting,  drinking  tea, 
and  eating  ices,  the  blue  air  vibrant  with 
music  from  the  band,  and  ov*er  all  that  atmos- 
phere of  pleasurable  excitement  which  seems 
to  belong  to  Dinard.  It  occurred  to  him  that 
he  might  find  Madame  de  Beauregard  among 
the  crowd  of  pleasure-seekers. 

He  did  not,  however,  see  her  until  a  well- 
directed  chocolate  bonbon  hit  him  in  the  back. 
He  turned  around,  and  there  at  a  table  sat 
Madame  de  Beauregard,  Eugene  de  Contiac, 
and  a  small,  sunburned  military  man,  whom 
Monsieur  de  Latour  recognised  at  once  as 
General  Granier,  who  had  been  a  lady-killer 
fifty  years  before  at  the  republican  court  of 
Louis  Napoleon.  He  was  beautifully  dyed 
and  made  up,  elaborately  and  very  youthfully 
dressed,  and  wore  an  orchid  in  his  buttonhole. 
It  occurred  to  Monsieur  de  Latour  that  the 
old  general  and  Madame  de  Beauregard 
matched  each  other  as  well  as  the  Dresden 
figures  of  Daphnis,  the  shepherd,  and  Chloe, 
49 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

the  shepherdess.  But  there  was  nothing 
rural  about  either  of  them,  especially  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard.  She  was  much  nearer 
Chloe's  age  than  Monsieur  de  Latour;  that  is, 
if  she  could  be  said  to  be  of  any  age,  for 
the  brightness  of  her  eye,  the  quickness  of 
her  hand,  the  overflowing  vitality  which 
bubbled  forth,  were  more  like  sixteen  than 
sixty. 

She  was  evidently  in  the  midst  of  a  roar- 
ing flirtation  with  the  general,  and  their  re- 
marks were  so  free  that  poor  Eugene  de  Con- 
tiac,  by  nature  as  pious  and  modest  as  a  girl, 
sat  and  hung  his  head  in  embarrassment. 
Eugene  was  neat,  precise,  clean-shaven,  and 
not  ill-looking,  but  persons  not  so  gay  even  as 
Madame  de  Beauregard  might  have  seen  in 
him  a  slight  superfluity  of  goodness  and  cor- 
rectness. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  considering  the  choco- 
late bonbon  thrown  at  him  as  an  invitation,  ad- 
vanced, and  Madame  de  Beauregard  greeted 
him  rapturously.  Eugene  de  Contiac,  think- 
ing this  a  good  moment  to  escape  from  bad 
company,  promptly  offered  Monsieur  de  La- 
50 


GAY   DINARD 


tour  his  chair  and  was  sneaking  off,  but 
was  caught  by  Madame  de  Beauregard  and 
dragged  back  by  his  coat-tails. 

"  Oh,  you  delicious  old  soap-boiler!  "  she 
cried  to  Monsieur  de  Latour,  holding  on 
meanwhile  with  one  hand  to  Eugene  de  Con- 
tiac,  "I  am  so  glad  to  see  you.  Now,  Eu- 
gene, sit  down.  Monsieur  de  Latour  will 
fetch  himself  a  chair  " — which  he  promptly 
did — "  and  try  to  learn  something  from  the 
conversation  of  two  such  men  as  General  Gra- 
nier  and  Monsieur  de  Latour,  who,  I  dare  say, 
only  wants  a  chance  to  kick  up  his  heels  with 
the  rest  of  us  at  Dinard.  You  see,"  cried 
this  terrible  old  lady,  whisking  herself  into  an 
attitude  by  which  she  thoroughly  displayed  her 
small  and  pretty  feet  in  a  pair  of  silk  stock- 
ings more  daring  than  those  she  had  worn 
in  the  morning,  and  flouncing  out  her  skirts  so 
as  to  show  a  wonderful  lace  and  chiffon  petti- 
coat, "  you  see,  Eugene  still  has  pious  inclina- 
tions. I  can't  get  that  out  of  him,  but  if  he 
ever  becomes  permanently  pious  and  correct 
he  shan't  have  a  franc  of  my  money,  and  he 
knows  it.  I  like  a  man  with  life  in  him,  like 
51 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

you,  General  Granier,  and  you,  my  rural 
friend."  And  at  this  she  actually  pinched 
Monsieur  de  Latour  on  the  arm  in  full  sight 
of  a  thousand  persons. 

But  to  be  pinched  publicly  by  a  comtesse  of 
one  of  the  greatest  families  in  France  was  an 
honour  that  flooded  Monsieur  de  Latour's 
soul  with  joy.  He  wished  to  say  something 
impudent  in  reply,  but  could  think  of  nothing 
more  original  than  to  ask  after  Madame  de 
Beauregard's  health. 

"  It  is  perfect,  thank  you,"  replied  the  old 
lady.  "  My  back  is  not  a  day  over  twenty- 
five,  my  head  is  about  fifteen,  and  as  for  my 
le —  What  are  you  winking  and  blinking 
at  me  for,  Eugene?"  she  snapped,  turning 
around  on  that  unfortunate  young  man. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  apprehending  what 
Madame  de  Beauregard  meant  to  say,  hast- 
ened to  interrupt. 

"  And  Mademoiselle  de  Bresac,  whom  I 
reckon  it  a  privilege  to  call  my  ward?  " 

"  Oh,  she's  in  the  country!  "  Madame  de 
Beauregard  answered,  again  falling  foul  of 
the  luckless  Eugene.  "  This  fellow  has  been 
52 


GAY   DINARD 


doing  rather  better  in  the  last  few  months. 
He  has  been  tipsy  three  or  four  times,  has  been 
going  to  some  of  the  gayest  theatres  in  Paris, 
and  has  given  up  reading  Bossuet's  sermons. 
I  thought  I  should  never  cure  him  of  that 
abominable  practice  of  sermon-reading,  but 
the  last  time  I  caught  him  at  it  I  cut  down 
his  allowance  five  hundred  francs  the  month, 
and  it  acted  like  a  charm.  Money  is  a  great 
persuader.  I  brought  him  down  here  for  the 
benefit  of  General  Granier's  society,  who  has 
promised  to  teach  him  a  few  things;  and,  as 
neither  one  of  them  returned  to  the  hotel  until 
two  o'clock  this  morning,  I  am  in  hopes  that 
Eugene  is  reforming." 

Eugene,  with  a  hangdog  countenance,  lis- 
tened to  all  of  this,  apprehending  that  every 
word  would  be  repeated  to  Melanie. 

"  But  I  had  a  very  difficult  time  of  it,"  put 
in  General  Granier.  "  I  took  him  to  the  thea- 
tre, and  I  almost  had  to  drag  him  behind  the 
scenes,  and  when  one  of  the  young  ladies  of 
the  ballet  made  at  him,  out  he  ran  for  his  life, 
and  much  too  fast  for  a  man  with  an  artificial 
leg,  like  myself,  to  catch  him." 
53 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

Madame  de  Beauregard  whirled  around  on 
Eugene. 

"  And  is  that  the  way  you  see  life?  "  she 
cried  indignantly.  "  Well,  I  always  said  I 
was  the  only  man  in  the  family.  All  of  my 
brothers  and  nephews  are  like  boarding-school 
misses.  My  husband,  poor  man,  was  entirely 
too  good  for  this  world." 

"  Not  a  gay  dog  in  the  lot  except  yourself," 
impudently  remarked  General  Granier,  and 
was  rewarded  by  a  kiss  airily  blown  at  him 
from  Madame  de  Beauregard's  little  withered 
hand. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  although  somewhat 
frightened,  enjoyed  this  extremely.  It  was 
a  great  deal  more  lively  than  drinking  tea 
in  the  garden  with  Mademoiselle  Cheri  and 
Melanie. 

"  I  don't  see,"  he  said,  "  why  our  young 
friend  objects  to  dancing  the  quadrille  of  life 
to  a  lively  air.  Perhaps  I  can  assist  you,  ma- 
dame,  in  educating  him." 

Poor  Eugene  shuddered. 

"  I  shall  be  a  million  times  obliged  to  you, 
my  dear  man,"  promptly  replied  Madame  de 
54 


GAY   DINARD 


Beauregard,  pulling  up  her  skirt  higher  and 
showing  so  much  of  her  chiffon  petticoat  that 
Monsieur  de  Latour  was  seriously  alarmed. 
"  But  I  know  what  ails  Eugene.  He  is  in 
love  with  your  niece — charming  girl,  and  I 
should  not  have  the  least  objection  to  her  if 
she  would  only  be  as  gay  as  I  am.  But  she 
won't,  and  won't  let  Eugene  be.  So  I  have 
told  him  frankly — for  I  am  a  very  frank  per- 
son, as  you  know — that  he  may  have  Melanie 
and  be  pious  and  not  get  a  single  sou  from  me, 
or  he  can  be  a  man,  as  I  reckon  men  to  be, 
and  I  will  leave  him  five  hundred  thousand 
francs.  No  proposition  could  be  fairer." 

"  I  wish  I  could  get  five  hundred  thousand 
francs  on  the  same  terms,"  remarked  the  old 
general,  with  a  couple  of  winks. 

"  Oh,  I  should  not  have  the  slightest  trouble 
with  you !  "  replied  Madame  de  Beauregard 
gaily. 

"  Really,  it  seems  to  me,"  said  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  jealous  of  the  attentions  which  the 
general  was  receiving,  "  it  would  be  easy 
enough  for  anybody.  I  always  liked  a  gay 
life  myself,  and  I  could  tell  you  some  of  my 
55 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

experiences,  madame  " — here  old  De  Latour 
assumed  a  mysterious  air — "  which  I  am 
afraid  would  frighten  you  very  much." 

"  Then  pray  go  on,"  cried  this  terrible  old 
lady,  "  and  tell  us  the  worst." 

But  Monsieur  de  Latour,  whose  experiences 
were  really  exceedingly  mild,  felt  ashamed  to 
speak  of  them  before  two  such  accomplished 
sinners  as  Madame  de  Beauregard  and  Gen- 
eral Granier.  They  were,  however,  a  pair  of 
merry  old  grigs,  but  Monsieur  de  Latour  felt, 
as  well  as  saw,  that  Madame  de  Beauregard, 
for  all  her  kittenishness,  was  really  a  very 
great  lady  and  not  without  kindness  of  heart. 

Poor  Eugene  sat,  the  image  of  woe,  his 
countenance  lighted  up  by  an  occasional 
sickly  grin  at  the  daring  sallies  of  Madame 
de  Beauregard,  to  which  General  Granier 
promptly  responded  in  kind,  and  which  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  vainly  endeavoured  to  surpass. 
He  hit  upon  a  lucky  subject,  however.  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard  speaking  of  her  possible 
intention  to  buy  a  villa  at  Dinard,  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  mentioned,  with  a  magniloquent 
air,  his  recently  acquired  relationship  to  Louis 

56 


GAY   DINARD 


Victor  de  Latour,  of  the  Chateau  of  Mont- 
plaisir. 

"  I  think  I  know  that  young  man,"  cried 
Madame  de  Beauregard.  "  A  delightful 
young  scamp,  as  impudent  as  they  make  them. 
He  came  near  kissing  me  at  Algiers,  a  couple 
of  years  ago.  Now,  Monsieur  de  Latour,  I 
think  it  would  be  a  good  idea  for  you  to  repair 
and  refurnish  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir. 
Oh,  what  a  name !  What  pleasure  we  could 
have  there !  " 

This  plan,  recommended  by  a  woman  of 
Madame  de  Beauregard's  rank  and  conse- 
quence, immediately  appeared  highly  desir- 
able to  Monsieur  de  Latour. 

"  It  would  be  quite  possible,"  he  said,  medi- 
tating, "  to  patch  up  the  roof  of  the  best  wing, 
put  in  windows,  and  get  some  furniture  into 
the  place  in  a  week  or  two.  Money  can  an- 
nihilate time  and  distance." 

"  Then  do  it!  "  cried  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard, pinching  his  ear,  to  the  delight  of 
the  passers-by,  who  reckoned  Madame  de 
Beauregard  as  among  the  peep-shows  of 
Dinard. 

5  57 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  And  if  I  can  make  the  place  habitable, 
you  will  probably  do  me  and  my  kinsman  the 
honour  of  becoming  our  guest?  "  Monsieur  de 
Latour  said  grandly.  "  And  may  I  also  count 
upon  the  presence  of  Mademoiselle  de  Bre- 
sac?  By  the  way,  is  she  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Dinard?" 

"  Oh,  yes !  "  answered  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard,  suddenly  becoming  interested  in  poor 
Eugene  de  Contiac's  hair.  "  She  is  staying 
at  a  convent  at  Saint  Malo.  Eugene,  why  do 
you  wear  your  hair  plastered  down  in  that 
sanctimonious  manner?  " 

"  But  I  thought  you  said  Mademoiselle  de 
Bresac  was  in  the  country?  "  inquired  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour,  anxious  to  establish  his  asso- 
ciation with  such  great  people  as  the  De  Bre- 
sacs  and  De  Beauregards. 

"  So  she  is  !  so  she  is !  The  next  thing,  Eu- 
gene, you  will  be  taken  for  a  clergyman,  and 
I  shall  be  forever  disgraced.  I  have  had  a 
great  many  milksops  in  my  family,  but  so  far 
I  have  been  spared  a  clergyman." 

The  party  remained  together  a  half  hour 
longer,  and  consumed  several  ices  and  some 
58 


GAY   DINARD 


very  expensive  wine  before  they  rose  from  the 
table,  and  Madame  de  Beauregard  made  a 
triumphal  circuit  of  the  grand  promenade, 
with  Monsieur  de  Latour  on  one  side  of  her 
and  General  Granier  on  the  other,  while  the 
unfortunate  Eugene,  with  a  carriage-load  of 
wraps,  parasol,  fan,  books,  and  other  impedi- 
menta, brought  up  the  rear.  For  a  man  with 
an  artificial  leg,  General  Granier  walked  re- 
markably well,  and  Monsieur  de  Latour  was 
electrified  by  Madame  de  Beauregard  making 
minute  inquiries  as  to  how  the  chassepot  rifle 
in  the  general's  leg  worked. 

"  Beautifully !  "  cried  the  old  gentleman 
with  enthusiasm.  "  I  keep  a  record  of  my 
target  practice  and  can  hit  the  bull's-eye  five 
times  out  of  seven  at  forty  paces." 

Then,  seeing  Monsieur  de  Latour  was  com- 
pletely mystified,  General  Granier  continued, 
lifting  up  his  right  leg,  which,  apparently, 
was  a  perfectly  normal  right  leg  with 
correctly  fitting  trousers  and  a  well-made 
shoe. 

"  Do  you  see  that  leg?  "  he  asked  critically. 
"  The  real  one  is  buried  on  the  field  of  Grave- 
59 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

lotte,  but  this  one  is  twice  as  good.  I  had  it 
fitted  with  a  rifle-barrel  and  trigger  here  in  my 
pocket." 

The  general  slapped  his  pocket,  and  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  then  noticed,  as  General  Gra- 
nier  lifted  up  the  heel  of  the  boot,  a  small 
round  hole  which  was  evidently  the  end  of  the 
rifle-barrel. 

"  Well,  every  man  must  have  his  hobby,  and 
mine  is  to  shoot  as  well  with  my  right  leg  as 
most  men  can  do  with  their  right  hands. 
Come  to  see  me  some  morning,  monsieur,  and 
I  will  give  an  exhibition  that  will  make  your 
hair  stand  on  end." 

Monsieur  de  Latour's  hair  already  stood  on 
end  at  this. 

"  Now,"  cried  Madame  de  Beauregard 
triumphantly,  "  are  you  surprised  that  I  adore 
General  Granier?  Think  of  a  man  having 
the  pluck  and  ingenuity  to  make  a  gun  out  of 
his  leg!" 

General  Granier  showed  his  appreciation  of 

this  compliment  by  pirouetting  on  his  left  leg, 

without  any  regard  to  the  crowd  of  laughing 

sightseers,  for  he,  like  Madame  de  Beaure- 

60 


GAY   DINARD 


gard,  had  been  one  of  the  monuments  at  Di- 
nard  for  years. 

"  You  see  how  delightfully  gay  we  are," 
cried  Madame  de  Beauregard  to  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  when  they  resumed  their  walk. 
"  Now,  do  have  that  old  rookery  of  Mont- 
plaisir  done  up,  and  then  we  will  all  come  and 
pay  you  a  visit." 

"  I  shall  endeavour  to  do  so,"  replied  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  gallantly. 

The  party  escorted  Madame  de  Beauregard 
to  her  hotel.  Once  or  twice  more  Monsieur 
de  Latour  tried  to  find  out  something  about 
Julie  de  Bresac,  but  as  every  mention  of  her 
name  brought  down  maledictions  upon  the  un- 
lucky Eugene,  Monsieur  de  Latour  abandoned 
the  subject  after  Madame  de  Beauregard  had 
informed  him  that  Julie  had  all  the  life,  spirit, 
and  gaiety  which  her  cousin,  Eugene  de  Con- 
tiac,  ought  to  have  had  but  hadn't. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  took  his  way  home 
meditating  deeply.  These  two  persons,  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard  and  General  Granier, 
were  of  his  period,  though  actually  older  than 
he,  and  yet  life  was  full  of  gaiety  and  spark- 
61 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

ling  pleasures  for  them.  He  began  to  think 
that  in  the  higher  classes  youth  lasted  longer 
than  in  the  middle  classes.  He  had  been  reck- 
oned an  old  fogy  even  at  Brionville,  and 
Mademoiselle  Cheri  had  a  way  of  assuming 
that  he  was  an  antiquated  person  who  had  no 
longer  any  right  to  the  fantasies  or  the  follies 
of  youth,  and  this  was  extremely  distasteful 
to  Monsieur  de  Latour,  who  had  a  taste  for 
both  fantasies  and  follies.  He  almost  decided 
to  marry  Madame  de  Beauregard,  provided, 
of  course,  that  she  would  take  him ;  but  what 
man  lives  who  does  not  in  his  secret  heart 
believe  that  he  can  get  any  woman  he  wants, 
for  the  asking? 


62 


IV 


THE    PLOT   THICKENS 

HE  next  morning,  bright  and 
early,  Monsieur  de  Latour  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  Chateau 
of  Montplaisir.  He  proposed 
to  Louis  that  a  large  force  of  workmen  should 
be  put  in  immediately  to  make  one  wing  of 
the  old  place  habitable. 

"  For,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  my  dear 
nephew,"  he  said  confidentially,  "  it  would  add 
immensely  to  my  consequence  to  be  able  to 
date  my  letters  from  the  Chateau  of  Mont- 
plaisir, and  I  don't  mind  spending  twenty  or 
thirty  thousand  francs  for  that  purpose." 

"  My  precious  uncle !  "  was  Louis's  only 
reply,  endeavouring  to  clasp  in  his  arms  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour. 

But  his  first  embrace  had  been  fraught  with 
63 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

so  much  danger  to  Monsieur  de  Latour's  ribs 
that  the  old  gentleman  fought  him  off,  and 
Louis  was  reduced,  as  usual,  to  embracing  the 
hat  and  umbrella. 

"  I  could  very  easily  telegraph  to  Paris  for 
workmen,"  continued  Monsieur  de  Latour. 
"  I  could  have  fifty  in  here  within  twenty-four 
hours,  and  the  materials  could  be  had  at 
Dinard.  Fifty  workmen  ought  to  be  able  to 
make  one  wing  habitable  certainly  within  a 
fortnight." 

"  My  beloved  uncle,"  answered  Louis, 
"  you  may  have  the  whole  chateau  repaired  at 
your  expense  if  you  desire.  No  one  shall  call 
me  mean  in  that  particular." 

"  And  as  for  furniture  and  tapestries,  if  an 
order  were  placed  in  Paris  to-day  it  could  be 
filled  within  forty-eight  hours." 

"  You  are  at  perfect  liberty  to  order  furni- 
ture amounting  to  a  million  francs,  if  you  like, 
also  at  your  own  expense,  and  Gobelins  tapes- 
tries in  any  quantities  you  may  wish.  You 
will  find  me  the  most  accommodating  person 
in  the  world  in  these  matters  as  long  as  you 
foot  the  bill." 

64 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


"  And  pictures — we  must  have  some  pic- 
tures to  hide  those  discoloured  walls." 

"  Pray  decorate  them  with  old  masters  at 
five  hundred  thousand  francs  each,  or  if  you 
prefer  the  moderns,  buy  a  few  Munkacsys, 
Corots,  Detailles,  or  anything  you  like,  pro- 
vided they  are  good  and  very  expensive.  I 
place  no  limit  upon  you  in  that  respect." 

"  Really,"  sarcastically  answered  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  "  you  are  too  good.  I  don't  con- 
template spending  my  whole  fortune  in  fitting 
up  one  wing  of  this  establishment." 

"  I  shall  put  no  obstacles  in  your  way,  if 
you  do,"  said  Louis  with  the  utmost  amia- 
bility. 

"  I  am  afraid,  young  man,  you  don't  know 
very  much  about  business." 

"  Of  course  not.  I  am  a  De  Latour,  and 
if  you  wish  to  be  taken  for  a  scion  of  this  noble 
house  you  must  forget  all  about  business — 
that  is,  as  soon  as  you  have  conveyed  to  me  the 
three  hundred  thousand  francs  which  you  have 
promised." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  looked  solemnly  at 
Louis  and  then  winked  his  left  eye. 
65 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  I  am  a  De  Latour,"  he  said,  "  but  I  shan't 
forget  all  about  business.  Don't  think  that  I 
am  dipping  into  my  principal  or  even  hamper- 
ing myself  seriously  in  spending  thirty  or  forty 
thousand  francs  of  my  income  on  this  chateau. 
It  is  difficult  to  spend  much  in  a  small  pro- 
vincial place  like  Brionville.  My  income  has 
been  steadily  accumulating  for  the  past  twenty 
years,  and  this  is  my  first  fling." 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  however,  being  prac- 
tical even  in  his  follies,  then  proceeded  to  un- 
fold his  projects  to  Louis  as  they  sat  together 
at  the  rickety  table  in  what  Louis  with  much 
solemnity  called  the  grand  saloon.  Plans  were 
discussed,  estimates  were  made,  which  pro- 
vided for  the  expenditure  of  a  considerable 
sum  of  money,  but  by  no  means  foolishly  or 
recklessly.  Monsieur  de  Latour  accompanied 
Louis  through  each  room  of  the  wing  to  be 
repaired.  He  selected  his  own  apartments,  a 
bedroom  and  a  study. 

"  Not  that  I  am  what  is  called  a  reading 

man,"  he  explained,  "  but  it  sounds  well  to 

have    a   study.      I    have   had    an   office    all 

my  life  until  now  at  Brionville.     I  can  bring 

66 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


my  servants  on  from  home  and  get  others 
here." 

All  the  time  Louis  had  been  asking  subtle 
questions  meant  to  discover  how  much  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  knew  or  would  tell  about  Julie 
de  Bresac,  but  without  success,  until  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  returning  to  the  grand  saloon, 
squared  himself  off  and  said  in  a  grandiose 
manner: 

"  My  object  in  hurrying  things  up  is  that  I 
may  entertain  as  my  guests  the  Comtesse  de 
Beauregard  and  her  niece,  Mademoiselle  de 
Bresac,  of  whom  I  spoke  yesterday,  and  Gen- 
eral Granier.  You  see,  my  young  friend,  I 
am  not  without  grand  acquaintances." 

"  Of  course  not,"  replied  Louis.  "  You 
have  known  me  since  yesterday." 

"  I  mean  other  than  yourself." 

"  And  what  did  you  say  was  the  name  of 
Madame  de  Beauregard's  niece — Mademoi- 
selle de  Marsac?"  asked  Louis  artlessly, 
meaning  to  throw  Monsieur  de  Latour  off  the 
scent. 

"  De  Bresac.  She  is  in  the  country,  or  in  a 
convent,  or  at  St.  Malo,  or  in  Paris,  or  in  half 
67 


THE    CHATEAU  'OF  MONTPLAISIR 

a  dozen  other  places.  I  don't  know  which. 
I  could  not  get  any  satisfactory  information 
concerning  her  out  of  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard,  and  it  seemed  to  exasperate  her  every 
time  I  asked  about  Julie." 

Louis  walked  to  the  window. 

"  But  she  is  coming  to  the  chateau,  is  she 
not?  "  he  asked,  turning  around. 

"Oh,  yes!  She  is  young  and  pretty,  I 
understand,  and  I  like  youth  and  beauty. 
The  fact  is,  I  have  not  yet  made  up  my  mind 
whether  I  shall  marry  youth  and  beauty,  age 
and  rank,  or  " — remembering  Seline  Cheri — 
"  middle  age  and  merit." 

"  I  know  which  I  shall  marry,"  answered 
Louis  stoutly.  "  Youth  and  beauty,  love  and 
rapture,  smiles  and  kisses." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  then  rose  to  go. 

"  I  hope,  my  dear  nephew-to-be,"  he  said, 
smiling,  "  that  you  will  call  upon  my  niece, 
Mademoiselle  Melanie  Dupont,  who  is 
shortly  to  become  your  cousin.  But  although 
she  has  youth  and  beauty  already,  and  kisses 
and  smiles  in  store,  they  are  not  for  you,  but 
for  that  very  piously  inclined  nephew  of  Ma- 
68 


THE   PLOT   THICKENS 


dame  de  Beauregard,  of  whom  I  spoke — Eu- 
gene de  Contiac.  I  am  afraid  you  would  be 
too  gay  for  my  niece.  She  is,  as  I  mentioned, 
staying  under  the  charge  of  Mademoiselle 
Cheri,  my  old  friend,  at  the  Villa  Rose.  But 
don't  go  to  kissing  and  embracing  them  as 
you  do  me." 

"  Neither  of  them  contemplates  giving  me 
three  hundred  thousand  francs,"  interrupted 
Louis.  "  I  insist  that  it  shall  be  made  a  part 
of  our  agreement  that  I  shall  be  permitted  to 
embrace  you  at  least  three  times  a  day.  You 
can  get  your  life  insured,  you  know.  I  shall 
do  myself  the  honour  and  pleasure  of  calling 
this  very  afternoon  upon  Mademoiselle  Cheri 
and  my  cousin,  Mademoiselle  Melanie,  whom 
I  shall  be  proud  to  acknowledge  as  a  relative." 

The  arrangements  took  up  all  of  the  fore- 
noon and  much  of  the  afternoon,  and  instead 
of  turning  up  at  the  Villa  Rose  punctually  at 
five  o'clock  for  tea,  as  was  his  habit,  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  was,  at  that  time,  in  the  tele- 
graph-office sending  and  receiving  despatches 
concerning  work  on  the  Chateau  of  Mont- 
plaisir. 

69 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

But  meanwhile  Louis  de  Latour  appeared 
at  the  villa  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  ladies, 
quite  unconscious  of  a  strange  and  fortuitous 
meeting  which  was  ahead  of  him. 

A  little  before  five  o'clock  Louis  rang  the 
bell  of  the  villa,  and  was  ushered  through  a 
gateway  into  a  beautiful  garden  at  the  back, 
where,  at  their  tea-table  in  a  little  grassy  place 
almost  surrounded  by  ancient  rose-trees  in  the 
last  blooming  of  summer,  Mademoiselle  Cheri 
and  Melanie  received  their  guests  in  the  after- 
noons. The  air  was  soft  and  fragrant  with 
the  late  blown  roses,  and  the  sunlight  in  un- 
clouded splendour  lay  over  land  and  sea.  As 
Louis  walked  along  the  shady  garden  path  to 
where  the  tea-table  stood,  the  graceful  figure  of 
a  girl,  dressed  modestly  in  black,  was  preced- 
ing him  through  the  mazes  of  the  shrubbery. 
One  look  sufficed.  It  was  Julie  de  Bresac. 
Louis  felt  a  shock  of  delight,  rushed  after 
her,  and  they  met,  unseen  by  other  eyes,  in 
a  sweet  and  odorous  solitude  formed  by  a 
circle  of  rose-trees.  Louis  seized  Julie's 
hand,  and  she  turned  on  him  two  sweet, 
dark  eyes  and  a  charming  face  all  dimpling 
70 


THE  PLOT   THICKENS 


with  smiles.  There  was  pure  delight  in  her 
glance. 

"  I  did  not  expect  to  meet  you  here,"  she 
said  with  pretty  gravity,  seating  herself  on  a 
garden-chair  and  arranging  her  black  draper- 
ies gracefully  around  her. 

"  And  I  did  not  expect  to  meet  you  here, 
mademoiselle,"  answered  Louis  in  rapture. 
"  I  suppose  you  have  come,  as  I  have,  to  call 
upon  Mademoiselle  Cheri  and  Mademoiselle 
Dupont,  the  niece  of  my  benefactor,  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour.  O  mademoiselle,  what  a 
budget  I  have  to  unpack  for  you !  " 

"  That  will  keep,"  replied  Julie  hurriedly, 
raising  her  hand  in  a  warning  gesture.  "  But 
you  are  not  to  know  that  I  am  here  nor  to 
recognise  me  in  the  least,  until  we  are  intro- 
duced." 

What  madcap  prank  had  Julie  now  in  her 
pretty  head?  thought  Louis;  for  Julie  was  a 
madcap  and  given  to  pranks,  and  those  which 
did  not  come  of  themselves  into  her  head 
Madame  de  Beauregard  was  tolerably  cer- 
tain to  put  there,  and  this  Louis  expressed  in 
guarded  language.  Suddenly  it  flashed  upon 
71 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

him,  the  escapade  which  Julie  proposed  enter- 
ing upon  with  Monsieur  de  Latour,  and  Julie 
herself  confirmed  this  by  whispering  to  him, 
as  she  opened  her  dainty  black  parasol  so  as 
to  conceal  her  laughing  face : 

"  You  know,  I  have  never  seen  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  who  is  the  trustee  of  my  property, 
but  I  happen  to  know  that  he  has  arrived  at 
Dinard  with  his  niece,  Melanie,and  my  cousin 
Eugene  adores  that  girl.  I  also  found  out 
that  Monsieur  de  Latour  was  advertising  for 
a  companion  for  Melanie ;  so  it  came  into  my 
head  and  that  of  my  aunt  that  I  would  take  a 
look  at  my  trustee  without  telling  him  who  I 
am.  So  I  have  replied  to  the  advertisement, 
and  I  am  here  to-day  to  be  inspected  for  the 
position  of  companion." 

Julie  said  this  with  a  dangerous  demure- 
ness.  Louis  had  discovered,  in  those  radiant 
days  at  Algiers,  that  Julie  was  never  perfectly 
serious  unless  she  was  bent  on  mischief. 

"  But,  mademoiselle,"  he  said,  "  although 

Monsieur  de  Latour  may  not  have  mentioned 

it  in  his  advertisement,  he  wishes  a  serious  and 

settled  person  as  companion,  or  rather  chap- 

72 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


eron,  for  Mademoiselle  Melanie.  That 
much  I  know,  although  I  met  Monsieur  de 
Latour  only  yesterday  morning." 

"Am  I  not  a  serious  and  settled  person?  " 
asked  Julie,  tapping  her  little  shoe  with  the 
end  of  her  parasol.  "At  least  am  I  not  as 
serious  and  settled  as  you  are?  " 

"  Perhaps  so,  mademoiselle,"  answered 
Louis,  smiling.  "  I  am  afraid  that  both  of  us 
are  a  little  intoxicated  with  the  new  wine  of 
life  which  we  are  drinking." 

"At  least,"  promptly  replied  Julie,  "  I  am 
twice  as  serious  and  settled  as  my  aunt."  And 
at  this  they  both  laughed. 

"All  I  ask  of  you,"  added  Julie,  with  a  side- 
long glance  which  enforced  her  request,  "  is 
that  you  will  let  me  play  my  little  part  undis- 
covered. It  is  no  harm — how  can  it  be?  I 
simply  want  to  amuse  myself  a  little.  By  the 
way,  this  is  my  first  opportunity  of  congratu- 
lating you  upon  coming  into  your  inheritance." 

"  I  wish  it  were  a  better  inheritance,"  re- 
plied Louis,  fixing  his  eyes,  bright  with  mean- 
ing, on  Julie. 

These  two  young  souls,  gay,  affectionate, 
6  73 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

and  exuberant  by  nature,  had  from  the  be- 
ginning, established  a  perfect  communication 
by  glances  and  unspoken  words.  Julie  knew 
Louis  to  be  her  lover,  and  Louis  felt  that  the 
thought  was  far  from  unpleasing  to  Julie, 
and  she  understood  perfectly  why  he  uttered 
this  wish.  He  desired  that  his  inheritance 
should  be  more  worthy  of  her. 

"  But,"  he  said,  "  I  have  had  a  great,  a 
marvellous  piece  of  good  fortune.  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  you  know,  belongs,  or  thinks  he 
belongs,  to  my  family.  Very  well — I  am  only 
too  happy  to  have  an  honest,  hard-working 
soap-boiler  among  my  relations.  So  Monsieur 
de  Latour  has  arranged  to  make  me  a  gift  of 
three  hundred  thousand  francs  and  to  adopt 
me  legally  as  his  nephew.  The  papers  will  be 
prepared  and  will  be  signed  as  soon  as  ready. 
And  then  there  is  an  another  glorious  possi- 
bility in  store  for  me.  My  Heaven-sent  uncle 
tells  me  that  you  and  Madame  de  Beauregard 
may  be  induced  to  visit  us  at  the  chateau  as 
soon  as  part  of  it  can  be  made  habitable." 

"  Then,"  responded  Julie  softly,  giving  him 
another  one  of  those  lovely  sidelong  glances 
74 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


into  which  she  threw  both  archness  and  senti- 
ment, "  even  if  I  don't  succeed  in  playing  this 
delightful  trick  on  Monsieur  de  Latour,  I 
shall  at  least  have — the  pleasure " 

Here  Julie  stopped,  smiling  and  blushing, 
and  Louis,  taking  up  the  thread,  said  de- 
lightedly : 

"  I  shall  have  the  joy  of  being  under  the 
same  roof  with  you,  at  all  events,  for  a  little 
time." 

Louis  paused  and  looked  about  him.  They 
were  quite  alone  except  for  the  presence  of  a 
pair  of  blue  pigeons,  which  were  cooing  softly 
on  the  top  of  an  arbour  near  them.  Louis 
leaned  over  and  said  one  word,  "  Julie,"  and 
Julie,  whose  eyes  were  suddenly  downcast, 
raised  them  with  a  look  in  their  blue  depths 
which  Louis  had  seen  there  when  he  had 
scarcely  a  franc  to  his  name.  Just  then  voices 
were  heard,  and  in  a  half  minute  more  Made- 
moiselle Cheri  and  Melanie  were  seen  ap- 
proaching. There  was  no  time  for  any  fur- 
ther explanation.  Julie,  like  most  women  of 
her  class,  was  an  admirable  actress.  As  the 
women  of  good  society  have  to  appear  inter- 
75 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

ested  when  they  are  bored,  to  maintain  their 
gravity  when  they  are  secretly  amused,  to  reg- 
ulate their  antipathies  and  control  their  emo- 
tions, they  are  already  graduates  of  the 
best  school  of  acting  in  the  world.  Julie  at 
once  assumed  an  air  which  Louis  had  never 
dreamed  that  she  possessed — an  air  submissive 
and  deprecatory  and  well  adapted  to  the  char- 
acter which  she  assumed  of  a  young  person 
looking  for  work.  Mademoiselle  Cheri  spoke 
first,  in  her  usual  kind  manner;  she  had  no 
idea  that  this  fascinating  young  girl  was  the 
person  applying  for  a  place  as  companion, 
and  was  considerably  astonished  when  Julie 
*aid  modestly : 

"  I  am  Mademoiselle  de  Courcey,  and  I 
have  called  by  appointment  at  this  hour  in  an- 
swer to  an  advertisement  for  a  companion." 

Mademoiselle  Cheri  looked  a  little  puzzled, 
glancing  toward  Louis,  whom  she  had  never 
seen  and  for  whose  presence  she  could  not  well 
account. 

"  Pardon,  mademoiselle,"  he  said,  advan- 
cing, "  permit  me  to  introduce  myself.  I  am 
Monsieur  Louis  Victor  de  Latour,  a  relative 
76 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


of  Monsieur  Victor  Louis  de  Latour,  and  I  be- 
lieve I  have  the  honour  of  claiming  relation- 
ship also  with  this  young  lady."  And  he 
bowed  and  smiled  in  a  pleasant  manner  pecu- 
liarly his  own  at  Melanie,  who  bowed  and 
smiled  in  return. 

There  was  nothing  patronizing  or  uppish 
about  this  young  man.  Nothing  could  be 
simpler  or  more  agreeable  than  his  manner, 
thought  Melanie,  who  had  expected  to  find 
him  haughty  to  the  last  degree. 

"  I  called  to  pay  my  respects  to  you,  made- 
moiselle, and  to  my  relative,  Mademoiselle 
Dupont;  but  I  perceive  that  you  have  an  ap- 
pointment with  this  lady,  and  I  will  postpone 
my  visit  to  a  more  opportune  season.  May  I 
return  in  half  an  hour?  " 

"  Certainly,  monsieur,"  replied  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri.  "  I  hope  by  that  time  Monsieur 
de  Latour  will  be  here.  We  expected  him  at 
five  o'clock,  and  he  is  likely  to  arrive  at  any 
moment." 

Louis  bowed  himself  off,  and  then  Made- 
moiselle Cheri,  inviting  Julie  to  be  seated,  said 
to  her  politely : 

77 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  I  am  afraid,  mademoiselle,  there  is  a  mis- 
take here.  I  think  Monsieur  de  Latour  de- 
sired a  lady  old  enough  to  be  a  chaperon,  as 
well  as  a  companion,  for  his  niece." 

"  Nothing  was  said  about  age,  mademoi- 
selle," answered  Julie  demurely,  "  and  I 
thought  it  possible  that  Monsieur  de  Latour 
might  desire  a  companion  rather  than  a 
chaperon." 

"  That  is  what  I  really  desire,"  said  Me- 
lanie  timidly.  "  I  have  no  sisters,  no  cousins, 
and  few  girl  friends.  I  have  often  longed  for 
a  companion  of  my  own  age." 

The  two  girls  looked  at  each  other  with 
mutual  good-will.  Nothing  could  be  more  dis- 
similar— Melanie,  nun-like  in  her  simplicity 
and  piety,  and  Julie,  full  of  the  spirit  of  mis- 
chief without  a  restraining  hand  to  guide  her. 
But  both  of  them  were  instinctively  good,  ten- 
der of  heart  and  incapable  of  meanness,  and 
their  very  oppositeness  drew  them  together. 

"  Perhaps,"  said  Julie,  "  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  might  accept  me  temporarily  as  a  com- 
panion for  you,  mademoiselle." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Melanie,  clapping  her 
78 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


hands  softly,  "  at  least  while  we  are  at  Di- 
nard.  I  should  love  to  have  a  companion, 
and  dear  Mademoiselle  Seline  will  chaperon 
us  both." 

The  two  girls  continued  to  gaze  at  each 
other  with  friendly  and  smiling  eyes.  Ma- 
demoiselle Cheri,  the  best  of  women  and 
by  nature  a  spoiler  of  children,  girls,  men, 
women,  servants,  horses,  dogs,  cats,  and  birds, 
at  once  replied: 

"  If  it  is  agreeable  to  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
I  am  more  than  willing  to  chaperon  you  while 
we  are  at  Dinard.  I  love  to  have  young  life 
about  me." 

The  two  girls  immediately  plunged  into  a 
conversation  with  each  other,  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  taking  an  occasional  part,  and  the  longer 
they  conversed  the  more  companionable  they 
seemed.  After  waiting  half  an  hour  for  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  tea  was  served,  and  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri  and  Melanie  succumbed  still  more 
to  Julie's  sweetness  and  sprightliness.  At  last, 
finding  it  impossible  to  wait  longer,  as  the 
alleged  companion  had  an  engagement  for  a 
very  smart  party  given  at  one  of  the  finest 
79 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

chateaux  in  the  neighbourhood,  Julie  rose  to 
go.  She  left  behind  her  a  strong  desire  in 
the  minds  of  both  Mademoiselle  Cheri  and 
Melanie  to  see  more  of  her. 

It  was  quite  six  o'clock  before  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  red  and  panting,  turned  up,  bringing 
with  him  Louis,  who  had  promised  to  return 
within  half  an  hour,  but  who  had  carefully 
watched  the  garden  waiting  for  Julie's  depar- 
ture. He  had  by  no -means  the  same  confi- 
dence in  his  powers  of  acting  that  Julie  had  in 
hers,  and  had  no  mind  to  meet  her  again  until 
he  had  better  learned  his  part.  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  seating  himself,  demanded  refresh- 
ment at  once,  not  only  in  the  shape  of  tea,  but 
in  a  glass  of  cognac. 

"  For  I  can  tell  you,"  he  puffed,  turning  to 
Louis,  "  I  have  had  as  hard  a  day's  work  as 
I  ever  did  when  I  was  in  charge  of  the  vats  of 
your  respected  father,  Mademoiselle  Seline. 
But,"  he  continued,  after  disposing  promptly 
of  the  cognac,  "  I  have  been  quite  successful. 
In  ten  days  more,  thanks  to  my  own  energy 
and  determination  and  the  good-will  of  my 
nephew  here  " — at  which  he  slapped  Louis  on 
80 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


the  back — "  one  wing  of  my  ancestral  chateau 
will  be  habitable." 

Louis  agreed  to  every  plan,  and  even  sugges- 
tion, that  Monsieur  de  Latour  made,  and  ex- 
pressed the  highest  gratification  at  all  that 
had  been  undertaken,  of  which  he  frankly 
acknowledged  himself  the  beneficiary. 

"And  then,"  he  said,  smiling,  "  I  shall  hope 
to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  dear  uncle, 
and  my  Cousin  Melanie  and  Mademoiselle 
Cheri,  established  at  the  Chateau  of  Mont- 
plaisir,  to  stay  as  long  as  you  like." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  was  delighted  at  this, 
and  went  on  to  explain  the  various  orders  he 
had  given.  Melanie  attempted  once  or  twice 
to  bring  up  the  subject  of  the  companion,  but 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  with  his  tongue  tied  to 
no  ear  but  his  own,  would  not  listen. 

"  The  great  matter,"  he  said,  "  was  the 
roof.  I  can  get  it  temporarily  patched  up,  and 
then,  when  the  season  at  Dinard  is  over,  I  can 
have  the  work  done  properly.  The  windows 
gave  me  very  little  trouble,  as  I  found  the 
frames  were  the  regulation  size.  The  fur- 
niture and  tapestries  were  easily  managed,  and 
81 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

I  think  those  lazy  Paris  tradesmen  will  learn 
a  thing  or 'two  from  the  way  we  do  things  at 
Brionville;  eh,  Mademoiselle  Seline?  " 

Mademoiselle  Cheri,  who  was  as  fond  of 
her  native  town  as  provincials  usually  are, 
promptly  agreed  to  this.  Monsieur  de  Latour 
could  not  forbear  chuckling  at  the  accounts 
of  his  aristocratic  splendour  which  his  servants 
would  take  back  to  Brionville. 

At  last  Melanie  managed  to  get  his  atten- 
tion and  told  him  that  Mademoiselle  de  Cour- 
cey  had  called  and  was  much  disappointed  at 
not  seeing  him,  but  had  arranged  to  come  to 
the  villa  again  the  next  morning  at  twelve 
o'clock,  when  he  must  be  there  to  meet  her. 

"  But,  my  dear,"  remonstrated  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  "  I  am  to  be  at  the  Chateau  of 
Montplaisir  at  twelve  o'clock.  However, 
couldn't  you  and  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  as  I 
wish  to  show  you  the  chateau,  bring  the  lady 
there,  and  we  could  have  the  interview  as  well 
as  here." 

"  Certainly,  dear  uncle,"  cried  Melanie, 
and  putting  her  hand  on  his  arm,  she  con- 
tinued: "  I  do  hope  that  you  will  like  Made- 
82 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


moiselle  de  Courcey.  Ask  Mademoiselle 
Seline  what  she  thinks  of  her." 

"  I  admired  her  very  much.  She  has  the 
unmistakable  air  of  good  breeding  which  I 
think  very  necessary  to  a  companion  and  most 
difficult  to  find  in  that  capacity,"  answered 
Mademoiselle  Cheri,  secretly  trying  to  for- 
ward the  wishes  of  the  two  girls.  "  Don't 
you  think  so,  monsieur?  "  she  added,  turning 
to  Louis. 

Louis,  who  wished  to  keep  out  of  the  im- 
broglio, was  forced  to  speak,  and  he  uttered 
only  the  truth  when  he  cordially  agreed  with 
Mademoiselle  Cheri. 

"And  the  languages?  "  asked  Monsieur  de 
Latour. 

Mademoiselle  Cheri  and  Melanie  looked  a 
little  blank  at  this.  They  had  been  so  capti- 
vated by  Julie's  charm  that  they  had  not  in- 
quired into  her  accomplishments.  But  Louis 
came  to  the  front,  saying : 

"  I  have  reason  to  know  that  Mademoi- 
selle de  Courcey  speaks  English  and  German 
fluently,  and  is  an  admirable  musician." 

Luckily,  Monsieur  de  Latour  did  not  de- 
83 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

mand  the  source  from  whence  Louis  had  ac- 
quired his  information,  but  asked  the  question 
which  Melanie  had  apprehended. 

"And  how  about  her  age?"  he  inquired. 
"  She  must  be  over  fifty,  of  course." 

There  was  a  pause  before  Melanie  said 
timidly : 

"  She  is  quite  young — not  more  than  two- 
and-twenty,  I  fancy.  But,  uncle,  I  want  her 
for  a  girl  companion  and  friend,  at  least  while 
we  are  at  Dinard,  and  Mademoiselle  Cheri 
says  she  will  chaperon  us  both." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  put  his  cup  down  and 
looked  around  sternly.  He  felt  that  he  had 
been  chicaned  by  the  whole  party. 

"  No,  my  love,"  he  said  positively,  "  you 
have  been  talking  nonsense,  if  you  will  pardon 
me  for  saying  so,  and  you  have  committed  a 
very  great  folly  in  encouraging  this  young 
lady,  Mademoiselle  de  Courcey,  to  suppose 
that  she  was  by  any  means  the  person  I  desired. 
I  admit  all  her  accomplishments,  but  she  is  too 
young.  She  would  require  more  chaperoning 
even  than  you,  and  kind  as  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  is,  I  could  not  think  of  imposing  two 
84 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


girls  upon  her  instead  of  one.  So  I  am  afraid 
you  will  have  to  give  up  the  notion  of  having 
her." 

"  But,  uncle " 

"  Not  another  word  on  the  subject,  my  dear. 
She  is  too  young.  I  wonder  that  you  should 
not  see  the  impossibility  of  any  such  arrange- 
ment. Besides,  think  of  the  scandal  it  would 
give.  People  would  say  that  I  intended  to 
marry  the  young  woman,  and,  being  a  bache- 
lor, I  must  be  on  my  guard." 

"  I  never  observed,"  said  Mademoiselle 
Cheri,  "  that  a  bachelor  on  his  guard  was  any 
safer  than  a  bachelor  off  his  guard,  and  be- 
sides, age  is  as  good  a  protection  to  a  man  as 
to  a  woman." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  glared  at  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri.  This  way  she  had  of  giving  him 
penknife  thrusts  when  he  least  expected  them 
was  most  unpleasant.  He  felt  then  far  more 
inclined  to  marry  Madame  de  Beauregard 
than  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  being  fully  per- 
suaded that  he  could  have  either  lady  at  any 
time  he  wished. 

Louis  listened  to  this  conversation  with 
85 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

alternate  hope  and  fear.  The  idea  of  having 
Julie  established  at  the  chateau  where  he  could 
see  her  daily  was  inexpressibly  captivating  to 
him,  but  her  taste  for  lively  adventures,  which 
was  ardently  fostered  by  that  rollicking  old 
madcap,  the  Comtesse  de  Beauregard,  made 
him  shiver  with  apprehension.  However,  he 
thought  if  he  could  once  call  Julie  his  own 
— and  he  had  reason  enough  to  believe  he 
could — she  would,  like  all  other  women 
who  love,  accommodate  herself  to  his  ideas, 
which,  although  not  as  strict  as  Mademoiselle 
Cheri's,  were  not  exactly  as  lax  as  Madame 
de  Beauregard's.  The  more  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  and  Melanie  saw  of  Louis,  the  better 
they  liked  him,  and  he  gave  every  indication 
of  an  intention  to  live  up  to  his  bargain  with 
Monsieur  de  Latour  and  to  treat  the  old  gen- 
tleman and  his  family  and  friends  with  the 
greatest  consideration. 

"  It  would  be  just  as  well,"  said  Monsieur 
de  Latour  after  a  while,  "  that  we  should  have 
a  family  meeting  and  a  little  festivity  at  the 
chateau  to  commemorate  the  reunion  of  the 
two  branches  of  the  family.  My  lawyers 
86 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


promised  to  have  all  of  the  papers  ready  in  a 
few  days,  and  then  I  shall  hand  over  the  sum 
agreed  upon  to  my  nephew-to-be,  and  it  may 
not  be  all  that  he  will  get  from  me  eventually." 

To  which  Louis  replied  by  a  sudden  sortie 
on  Monsieur  de  Latour,  and  an  embrace 
which  Monsieur  de  Latour,  rubbing  his  sides 
afterward,  declared  almost  cost  him  his  life. 
But  he  liked  the  heartiness  and  good-will 
which  Louis  showed,  and  the  indisposition  to 
haggle  over  the  terms  of  the  bargain. 

The  next  morning  at  ten  o'clock  Monsieur 
de  Latour  was  in  his  glory  at  the  Chateau  of 
Montplaisir.  The  hammering  of  workmen 
resounded  upon  the  roof,  masons  and  carpen- 
ters were  all  over  the  place,  and  Monsieur  de 
Latour  was  inspiring  and  directing  them  with 
more  zeal  than  helpfulness.  He  distracted  the 
workmen  by  his  directions,  called  them  when 
they  were  busy  to  urge  them  to  make  greater 
haste,  and,  in  short,  his  wishes  outran  his  dis- 
cretion, as  the  case  is  with  most  people. 

The  August  sun  shone  brightly,  and  the  old 
rookery  was  flooded  with  the  warm  blue  air. 
The  presence  of  the  workmen  and  Monsieur 
8? 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

de  Latour,  strutting  about  declaiming  in  a 
loud,  cheerful  voice,  followed  at  every  step  by 
Louis  in  great  spirits,  made  a  complete  trans- 
formation of  the  scene.  There  was  but  one 
thing  in  Louis  to  which  Monsieur  de  Latour 
objected,  and  that  was  Louis's  propensity  to 
embrace  the  old  gentleman  on  every  possible 
occasion.  When  he  had  done  this  about 
twenty  times  that  morning,  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  stopped  him  in  the  middle  of  the  court- 
yard and  remonstrated  strongly. 

"  Look  here,"  he  said,  "  I  can't  stand  this 
eternal  embracing  and  kissing  on  your  part. 
It's  all 'well  enough  to  be  grateful,  and  I  like 
to  see  the  spirit  in  you,  young  man,  but  I  can't 
run  the  risk  of  having  my  ribs  broken  twenty 
times  a  day.  There  must  be  some  limit  put  to 
it." 

"  Very  well,  then,  dear  uncle,"  replied 
Louis  affectionately,  "  only  grant  me  the  priv- 
ilege of  embracing  you  and  kissing  the  top  of 
your  head  three  times  a  day.  With  less  I  can- 
not exist." 

"Wouldn't  once  a   day  answer?"  asked 
Monsieur  de  Latour  dubiously. 
88 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


"  No,  a  dozen  times  no !  I  cannot  control 
the  exuberance  of  my  feelings  for  twenty-four 
hours  consecutively.  I  must  embrace  you  at 
least  three  times  a  day.  Would  you  consider 
it  a  violation  of  this  arrangement,  which,  after 
all,  seems  so  inadequate  to  express  my  feelings, 
if  I  were  to  put  my  arm  affectionately  around 
your  neck,  thus?  " 

Here  Louis  insinuated  his  arm  around  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour's  neck  and  rested  his  head 
against  his  new-found  uncle's  left  ear. 

"  Decidedly  so,"  replied  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour,  shaking  him  off.  "  It  is  the  first  time  in 
my  life  that  I  have  ever  had  to  repress  grati- 
tude ;  but  gratitude  such  as  yours  is  positively 
dangerous.  I  think  my  life  has  been  in  jeop- 
ardy a  dozen  times  since  I  arranged  to  give 
you  the  three  hundred  thousand  francs.  You 
are  a  very  athletic  young  man  and  I  am 
not  as  young  as  I  was  once,  and  although  my 
life  is  insured  I  don't  care  to  take  unnecessary 
risks." 

"  I  must  then  submit,"  said  Louis  sorrow- 
fully, withdrawing  his  arm.  "  But  recollect, 
three  times  a  day  I  am  to  be  allowed  to  ex- 
7  89 


THE   CHATEAU  OF  MONTPLAISIR 

press  to  you  by  my  endearments  my  affection 
and  grateful  thanks." 

"  Yes,  and  whenever  else  you  feel  the  im- 
pulse you  will  have  to  embrace  my  umbrella 
and  hat.  I  put  no  restrictions  whatever  upon 
your  endearments  to  those.  Now  let  us  go 
out  upon  the  terrace  and  await  our  friends." 

The  terrace,  like  the  court-yard  and  the 
chateau,  was  mouldering,  cracked,  and  broken 
in  every  part,  but  the  view  of  the  laughing  blue 
sea,  the  beautiful  gardens  and  trees  and  grass 
and  the  charming  villas  of  Dinard  was  most 
lovely.  Louis  and  Monsieur  de  Latour  had 
just  reached  the  terrace  when  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  and  Melanie  and  Julie  appeared.  Me- 
lanie  ran  forward  and,  taking  her  uncle's 
hand,  cried: 

"  Dear  uncle,  here  we  are  with  Mademoi- 
selle de  Courcey." 

And  then  Mademoiselle  Cheri  presented 
Julie.  The  instant  Monsieur  de  Latour's  eyes 
rested  upon  Julie  a  sudden  change  came  over 
his  feelings.  He  became  acutely  conscious  of 
her  youth,  her  beauty,  her  charm.  When  a 
man  is  in  Monsieur  de  Latour's  state  of  mind, 
90 


THE   PLOT   THICKENS 


having  decided  to  marry  and  is  merely  con- 
sidering the  choice  of  a  lady,  he  looks  at  every 
member  of  the  sex  with  a  critical  eye — the 
whole  fair  is  his  as  long  as  he  has  sixpence  in 
his  pocket.  The  idea  recurred  to  him  that  he 
might  select,  as  the  future  Madame  de  La- 
tour,  a  young  and  pretty  girl.  He  wished  to 
see  something  more  of  the  pretended  Made- 
moiselle de  Courcey,  but  it  occurred  to  him 
at  once  that  he  had  created  rather  an  awkward 
complication  by  his  firmly  expressed  deter- 
mination not  to  engage  Julie  on  account  of  her 
youth  as  companion  for  Melanie  on  any  terms 
whatever.  Melanie  was  delighted,  however, 
and  Louis  secretly  diverted,  when  Monsieur  de 
Latour  promptly  began  to  promenade  up  and 
down  the  terrace  by  the  side  of  Julie.  Louis, 
by  way  of  giving  Julie  a  chance,  took  Ma- 
demoiselle Cheri  and  Melanie  off  into  a  cor- 
ner where  there  were  some  decayed  seats — 
everything  about  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir 
was  decayed — and  while  ostensibly  showing 
them  the  view,  saw  Julie  sailing  into  the  old 
gentleman's  good  graces  in  the  most  unequivo- 
cal manner.  Julie,  with  downcast  eyes  and  the 
91 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

most  demure  air  in  the  world,  was  playing  off 
her  little  practical  joke  on  her  trustee,  while 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  blandly  unconscious  that 
he  was  being  hoodwinked  by  the  artful  young 
person  at  his  side,  was  thinking  that,  after  all, 
no  woman  is  too  young  for  any  man,  and 
rapidly  coming  to  the  determination  to  have 
Julie  at  any  price  as  a  member  of  his  family 
circle. 

Not  one  word  on  the  subject  of  business  was 
exchanged  between  them  as  they  promenaded 
up  and  down  for  half  an  hour.  The  beauties 
of  the  sea  and  sky,  the  charms  of  Dinard,  the 
latest  plays  in  Paris,  the  last  poems  and  ro- 
mances, were  the  subjects  on  which  Julie — the 
artful  Julie — chose  to  entertain  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  who  was  only  too  willing  to  be  en- 
tertained. Being  a  very  clever  young  person 
she  realised  all  the  headway  she  was  making, 
and  was  not  in  the  least  surprised  when  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  said  impressively,  after  a 
while : 

"  Now,  my  dear  mademoiselle,  when  the 
subject  of  your  being  my  niece's  companion 
was  first  broached  and  I  heard  of  your  youth 
92 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


and — ah — extreme  beauty  and  charm,  I  said 
that,  notwithstanding  your  acquirements  and 
accomplishments,  you  were  not  old  enough  to 
be  my  niece's  companion,  who  would  also  be 
her  chaperon." 

"  O  dear  Monsieur  de  Latour,"  answered 
Julie  in  her  sweetest  voice  and  demurest  man- 
ner, "  you  have  no  idea  how  sedate  I  am.  I 
am  serious  beyond  my  years."  Which  was 
quite  true  when  she  had  a  mischievous  project 
on  hand. 

"  I  know — I  know,"  remarked  Monsieur 
de  Latour.  "  I  see  that  you  are  prudence  and 
primness  and  propriety  itself.  But — but — the 
world  won't  think  so." 

"  If  you,  Monsieur  de  Latour,  thought  me 
old  enough  to  be  your  niece's  companion,  all 
the  world — I  mean  our  world,  that  is — would 
think  so,  too,  because  everybody  respects  your 
judgment." 

This  was  laying  on  the  flattery  where  it 
would  do  the  most  good,  and  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  smiled  delightedly. 

"  You  are  very  good,"  he  said.  "  Some 
people  do  think  me  a  person  of  sense.  But, 
93 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

although  I  cannot  possibly  engage  you  as  my 
niece's  companion,  another  scheme  occurs  to 
me  by  which  she  can  have  the  benefit  of  your 
charming  society,  and  I,  too,  I  hope,  in  a  meas- 
ure " — this  in  a  very  low  voice  so  that  Ma- 
demoiselle Cheri,  whom  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  supposed  to  be  consumed  with  jealousy 
at  the  other  end  of  the  terrace,  could  not 
hear. 

"Any  scheme  which  you  advocate,  mon- 
sieur, will  be  highly  agreeable  to  me,"  replied 
Julie,  seeing  that  she  had  brought  down  her 
quarry  at  the  first  shot. 

"  It  is  this — I  foresee  that  I  shall  have 
immediate  need  of  a  private  secretary.  Of 
course,  in  my  business  I  have  persons  to  do 
that  sort  of  work,  but  a  private  secretary  must 
be  a  member  of  my  family,  and  you  are  the 
only  person  whom  I  have  yet  seen  whom  I 
should  be  willing  to  have  in  that  position.  Do 
you  happen  to  have  stenography  among  your 
accomplishments?  " 

"  What  is  that?  "  asked  Julie  innocently. 

"  Oh,  well,  never  mind !  Did  you  ever  do 
any  typewriting?  " 

94 


THE   PLOT   THICKENS 


"  No,  indeed,"  replied  Julie,  laughing, 
"  but  I  have  seen  a  typewriting  machine  two 
or  three  times." 

"  Well,  that's  no  matter — I  can  get  along 
without  that." 

"  But  I  can  write,"  said  Julie. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  remembered  that  the 
only  writing  of  hers  which  he  had  seen  was 
far  from  legible,  but  he  was  not  going  to  let  a 
thing  like  ignorance  of  stenography  or  type- 
writing, or  even  the  inability  to  write  a  good, 
plain  hand  stand  in  the  way  of  his  engaging  a 
pretty  girl  as  secretary. 

"  Well,  well,"  he  continued  confidently,  "  I 
think  we  can  manage.  I  myself  write  a  good, 
legible,  commercial  hand,  and  I  could  assist 
you." 

"  Oh,  if  you  would  be  so  kind,"  cried  Julie, 
"  I  should  think  it  would  be  perfectly  charm- 
ing !  I  never  thought  I  could  be  a  private  sec- 
retary, but  I  am  sure  if  I  have  neither  stenog- 
raphy nor  typewriting  to  do  and  you  will  write 
your  own  letters,  that  I  could  fill  the  place 
acceptably." 

"  Certainly,  certainly  you  can,"  replied 
95 


THE  CHATEAU  OF  MONTPLAISIR 

Monsieur  de  Latour.  "And  as  for  salary, 
only  name  your  price." 

But  Julie  was  too  wary  for  this. 

"  Whatever  you  think,  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour,"  she  said. 

"  What  do  you  say  to  five  hundred  francs 
the  month?  " 

"  I  say  five  hundred  thanks  for  it,"  replied 
Julie,  laughing,  to  whom  five  hundred  francs 
was  by  no  means  the  enormous  sum  which 
Monsieur  de  Latour  supposed  it  would  be. 

Then  came  the  breaking  the  news  to  Ma- 
demoiselle Cheri  and  Melanie,  but,  as  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  reflected,  they  had  tormented 
him  to  take  Julie,  and  now  they  would  have  no 
right  to  complain  if  he  took  her  for  his  own 
benefit  and  not  theirs.  So  he  marched  up  to 
the  group  at  the  other  end  of  the  terrace  and 
said  oracularly  to  Melanie: 

"  My  dear,  you  have  the  most  indulgent 
uncle  in  the  world.  As  soon  as  I  found  your 
heart  was  set  upon  having  Mademoiselle  de 
Courcey  as  your  companion,  I  determined  to 
gratify  you.  It  is  true  that  her  youth  renders 
her  unequal  to  the  position  of  chaperon,  but 
96 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


as  Mademoiselle  Cheri  has  kindly  consented 
to  take  that  upon  herself  as  long  as  we  are  at 
Dinard,  I  think  we  can  arrange  to  have  Ma- 
demoiselle de  Courcey  in  another  capacity. 
She  is  to  be  my  private  secretary." 

At  that  a  look  of  intelligence  flashed  be- 
tween Louis  and  Julie.  By  some  occult  means 
Louis  understood  that  the  prospect  of  being 
near  him  had  something  to  do  with  the 
present  arrangement,  and  a  thrill  of  delight 
went  through  him.  Melanie  was  immensely 
pleased,  and  only  Mademoiselle  Cheri  looked 
a  little  disconcerted.  Monsieur  de  Latour 
thought  it  was  easy  to  account  for  this  last. 
All  women  are  jealous. 

"  So  now,"  continued  Monsieur  de  Latour 
grandly,  "  I  hope  very  much  that  within  ten 
days  we  can  be  established  in  this  wing  of  the 
chateau  and  have  some  pleasant  days  together 
before  the  end  of  the  season.  We  shall,  of 
course,  find  acquaintances  here.  Among  oth- 
ers " — here  he  turned  to  Julie,  meaning  to  im- 
press her  with  the  fact  that  he  knew  some 
people  at  Dinard  with  handles  to  their  names 
— "  I  may  reckon  the  Comtesse  de  Beaure- 
97 


THE   CHATEAV   OF  MONTPLA1S1R 

gard,  of  one  of  the  greatest  families  in 
France,  but  a  very  terrible  old  lady,  mademoi- 
selle, and  much  too  young  for  her  years. 
Then  she  has  a  friend,  General  Granier,  as 
old  as  Methuselah  and  as  gay  as  a  bird.  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard,  I  think,  should  be  a 
little  more  discreet  than  she  is.  But  some 
women  never  seem  to  realise  the  passage  of 
time." 

"  Nor  some  men,  either,"  replied  Made- 
moiselle Cheri.  "A  woman  always  realises 
that  she  must  some  day  be  old,  and  the  idea  is 
too  painful  to  be  ignored,  but  no  man,  partic- 
ularly if  he  is  unmarried,  ever  actually  believes 
that  age  can  touch  him,  and  when  he  is  a  com- 
plete old  wreck  he  thinks,  just  as  General 
Granier  does,  that  he  is  Apollo  and  Adonis 
rolled  in  one." 

This  speech  annoyed  Monsieur  de  Latour 
very  much.  Most  people,  since  he  had  ac- 
quired the  power  to  write  his  cheque  for  three 
hundred  thousand  francs  without  seriously 
inconveniencing  himself,  treated  him  with  a 
very  great  degree  of  respect,  but  Seline  Cheri 
seemed  unable  to  discern  the  difference  be- 
98 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


tween  him  now  and  in  the  days  when  he  was  a 
clerk  in  her  father's  soap-factory. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  feeling  called  upon  to 
justify  his  somewhat  precipitate  action  in  en- 
gaging this  pretty  young  lady  as  his  private 
secretary,  and  quite  determined  to  have  his 
own  way  in  the  matter,  remarked  to  Julie : 

"  I  think,  mademoiselle,  we  must  arrange 
to  begin  work  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
I  have  some  very  important  matters  to  attend 
to — business  affairs  concerning  my  nephew  " 
— here  Monsieur  de  Latour  waved  his  arm 
majestically  toward  Louis — "  and  myself,  so 
if  you  could  report  to  me,  we  will  say  to-mor- 
row morning  at  ten  o'clock,  at  the  Villa  Rose, 
we  could  begin  work." 

"  But  why  not  here,  monsieur? "  asked 
Julie  innocently.  "  If  the  weather  is  fine,  as 
it  promises  to  be,  we  could  work  on  the 
terrace." 

"  Quite  true.  What  a  very  prompt  and 
businesslike  young  person  you  are !  Very  well 
— if  fair,  to-morrow  morning  on  the  terrace 
at  ten;  if  rainy,  at  the  Villa  Rose." 

Louis,  his  breath  almost  taken  away  by 
99 


THE   CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

Julie's  proposition,  gazed  at  her  in  astonish- 
ment, but  nothing  could  exceed  that  young 
person's  calmness  and  composure.  Made- 
moiselle Cheri  and  Melanie  were  not  much 
used  to  private  secretaries,  and  they  had  been 
so  startled  by  Monsieur  de  Latour's  sudden 
change  of  mind  that  nothing  further  could 
surprise  them.  And,  besides,  as  they  had  both 
urged  him  to  secure  Julie's  companionship  for 
Melanie,  they  were  hardly  in  a  position  to 
oppose  him. 

Louis  then  invited  them  to  inspect  his  an- 
cestral mansion,  which  he  professed,  with  the 
utmost  politeness,  to  consider  Monsieur  de 
Latour's  ancestral  mansion  likewise.  The 
prospect  of  being  established  there  struck  the 
fancy  of  them  all.  It  was  a  unique  pleasure, 
heretofore  out  of  the  experience  of  each,  and 
seemed  like  the  beginning  of  one  of  those  idyls 
of  times  past  when  a  party  of  congenial  per- 
sons could  segregate  themselves  in  some  ex- 
quisite spot  and  keep  the  whole  world  at  bay. 

Old  Suzette  had,  by  some  hocus-pocus,  ac- 
quired a  supply  of  fruit  and  cakes  which  she 
served  on  the  terrace,  meanwhile  scrutinising 
100 


THE   PLOT    THICKENS 


the  party  closely  and  coming  rapidly  to  the 
conclusion  that  Monsieur  Louis,  as  she  called 
him,  was  deeply  in  love  with  Mademoiselle 
Julie,  and  that  Mademoiselle  Julie  had  a  soft 
spot  in  her  heart  for  Monsieur  Louis. 

As  Louis  stood  on  the  terrace  watching 
Julie's  graceful  figure  disappearing  in  the 
shady  path  below,  old  Suzette  came  up,  and 
planting  herself  with  both  arms  akimbo  be- 
fore him,  said,  with  a  broad  smile : 

"  It  is  the  young  lady  in  black,  and  I  have 
a  secret  to  tell  you,  monsieur.  She  is  very 
much  in  love  with  you." 

At  which  Louis  joyfully  embraced  her  as  he 
had  done  Monsieur  de  Latour,  and,  printing 
a  sounding  kiss  on  her  leathery  old  cheek, 
cried  out : 

"  Do  you  think  so?  Heaven  send  you  may 
be  right!" 


101 


A   DUKE,   A   COMTESSE,    A    SOAP-BOILER,   AND 
AN  AUTO-CAR 

HE  next  ten  days  passed  in  a 
whirl  of  excitement  for  all  of 
the  people  associated  with  the 
Chateau  of  Montplaisir.  Be- 
sides the  work  going  on  at  the  chateau  it  was 
necessary  to  prepare  the  legal  papers  making 
Louis  the  nephew  of  Monsieur  de  Latour,  and 
this  gave  Monsieur  de  Latour  a  valid  ex- 
cuse for  Julie's  services.  He  discovered  at 
once  the  importance  of  making  copies  of 
everything  he  wished  in  his  own  round,  clear, 
clerk-like  hand,  for  Julie's  writing  was  expan- 
sive and  illegible  beyond  description,  so  that 
really  Monsieur  de  Latour  acted  more  as  her 
private  secretary  than  she  did  as  private  secre- 
tary to  him.  This,  of  course,  took  up  much 
102 


A   DUKE   AND   AN  AUTO-CAR 

time,  and  Monsieur  de  Latour  did  the  hard- 
est work  of  his  life  during  those  ten  days. 
He  intrusted  Julie,  however,  with  the  task  of 
forwarding  and  receiving  his  letters  and  docu- 
ments, giving  emphatic  orders  that  his  copy, 
and  not  hers,  of  all  those  documents  go  forth 
to  the  world,  while  hers  were  to  be  kept  merely 
as  duplicates. 

Every  morning  Julie  would  appear  on  the 
terrace,  the  only  spot  available,  as  the  chateau 
swarmed  with  workmen.  There,  with  her 
pretty  head  bent  over  the  rustic  table  used 
as  a  writing  table,  she  would  scribble  away 
industriously,  while  Monsieur  de  Latour  labo- 
riously copied  every  word  that  his  charming 
amanuensis  wrote.  Louis  hovered  around, 
wondering  what  was  to  be  the  outcome  of 
Julie's  escapade. 

One  of  the  features  of  it  was  that  on  the 
second  morning  that  Julie  arrived  on  the  ter- 
race she  was  soon  followed  by  the  appearance 
of  the  Comtesse  de  Beauregard,  her  faithful 
attendant,  General  Granier,  and  Eugene  de 
Contiac,  whom  the  old  lady  kept  a  strict  watch 
upon  lest  he  should  go  to  church  or  take  to 
103 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

reading  sermons.  Monsieur  de  Latour  felt 
highly  honoured  at  being  tracked  to  his  lair,  so 
to  speak,  by  so  great  a  lady  as  the  Comtesse  de 
Beauregard,  and  when  she  skipped  up  to  him 
and  playfully  prodded  him  with  her  parasol 
he  was  very  much  delighted.  He  had  invited 
her,  it  was  true,  to  be  his  guest  when  he 
should  be  in  a  position  to  entertain  her,  but  it 
was  extremely  gratifying  to  him  that  she 
should  anticipate  her  formal  visit  in  this  man- 
ner. He  greeted  her  warmly,  and  Madame 
de  Beauregard's  first  speech  was : 

"  So  you  have  a  private  secretary  young 
enough  to  be  your  granddaughter?  "  And, 
turning  to  Julie,  she  cried:  "What  is  your 
name,  my  dear?  " 

"  I  am  Mademoiselle  Julie  de  Courcey," 
responded  Julie,  acting  her  part  quite  as  well 
as  Madame  de  Beauregard. 

"  Very  well — I  like  your  independence, 
and  this  afternoon,  if  you  will  come  down  to 
the  promenade,  we  will  have  tea  together." 

General  Granier  seemed  to  know  Julie  also, 
as  did  Eugene  de  Contiac,  but  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  remembering  that  his  private  secre- 
104 


A   DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

tary's  connections  were  high,  was  not  sur- 
prised at  this.  Madame  de  Beauregard  in- 
sisted upon  being  shown  through  the  chateau, 
and  was  so  pleased  with  it  that  she  reminded 
Monsieur  de  Latour  of  his  invitation  to  visit 
the  chateau,  saying  she  meant  to  come  and 
bring  all  her  family  and  friends  and  remain 
for  several  weeks  as  soon  as  the  place  was 
habitable. 

"  And  remember,  monsieur,"  she  con- 
tinued roguishly.  "  I  shall  require  at  least  six 
rooms — a  bedroom,  dressing-room,  and  saloon 
for  myself,  a  bedroom  for  my  maid,  one  for 
Eugene  de  Contiac,  and  one  for  my  lawyer, 
Monsieur  Bertoux,  when  he  arrives,  because  I 
foresee  that  I  shall  soon  have  to  change  my 
will.  Ever  since  my  nephew  here  came  with- 
in reach  of  your  estimable  niece  he  has  been 
going  to  the  good  very  fast  indeed.  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that  he  sneaks  off  to  church 
secretly  every  morning,  and  General  Granier 
tells  me  he  does  not  think  I  shall  ever  be  able 
to  make  a  man  of  Eugene." 

Eugene  at  this  looked  very  sheepish  and 
mumbled : 

8  105 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  I  haven't  been  in  bed  before  two  o'clock 
a  night  since  I  came  to  Dinard." 

"  By  the  way,"  cried  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard,  "  I  shan't  require  a  room  for  my  niece 
and  your  ward.  She  is  in  Paris,  nursing  an  old 
cousin  of  ours,  who  has  been  quite  ill." 

"  But  I  thought,"  responded  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  a  little  puzzled,  "  that  you  said  she 
was  in  the  country,  and  then  you  said  she  was 
in  a  convent,  and  a  few  other  places." 

"  And  now  I  say  she  is  in  Paris,"  tartly  re- 
plied Madame  de  Beauregard.  "  My  dear 
man,  do  you  think  that  my  niece,  a  girl  brought 
up  by  me,  sticks  in  one  place  like  a  gate-post 
planted  in  the  ground?  No,  indeed!  My 
niece  has  too  much  of  the  spirit  and  indepen- 
dence which  my  nephew  lacks.  I  don't  know 
how  in  the  world  Providence  ever  came  to 
make  such  a  mistake  as  to  send  Julie  into  the 
world  a  girl,  and  this  milksop,  Eugene  de  Con- 
tiac,  a  boy.  But  Providence  does  make  ridicu- 
lous blunders — there's  no  doubt  about  that." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  did  not  know  whether 
this  was  heterodoxy  or  not,  but  he  did  know 
that  Madame  de  Beauregard  was  a  comtesse 
106 


A   DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

of  one  of  the  greatest  families  in  France,  and 
was  coming  to  visit  him,  and  thinking  Provi- 
dence could  take  care  of  itself,  made  no  at- 
tempt to  defend  its  acts. 

"  I  shall  be  most  pleased,  madame,"  he  said 
gallantly,  "  if  your  niece  will  accompany  you 
when  you  pay  me  the  visit  you  promise,  and  I 
need  not  say  that  the  whole  chateau  will  be  at 
your  disposal,  and  in  this,  my  nephew,  I  am 
sure,  will  unite  with  me." 

To  this  Louis  assented  politely,  but  in  truth 
knew  not  whether  to  be  more  frightened  or 
pleased  at  Madame  de  Beauregard's  threat- 
ened invasion  of  the  chateau.  Her  presence, 
it  was  true,  would  give  a  certain  protection  to 
Julie  when  her  escapade  was  found  out,  as  it 
must  be,  but  the  old  lady  was  such  a  persistent 
encourager  of  everything  in  the  nature  of  a 
lark  that  there  was  no  telling  what  would  hap- 
pen if  she  were  on  the  spot  to  goad  Julie  on. 

Madame  de  Beauregard  then  launched  out 
into  a  description  of  her  latest  fad,  automobil- 
ing  in  her  sixty-horse-power  motor-car,  and  in 
these  adventures  she  had  the  assistance  of  Gen- 
eral Granier  and  of  a  semi-royal  duke  as  old 
107 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

and  as  kittenish  as  herself.  She  cackled  with 
delight  when  she  told  of  running  into  ditches, 
lamp-posts,  shop-windows,  cows,  and  pedes- 
trians, and  of  the  car  turning  somersaults  and 
scattering  its  occupants  all  over  the  place.  She 
wound  up  by  inviting  Monsieur  de  Latour  to 
accompany  her  on  an  expedition  that  after- 
noon, with  the  semi-royal  duke  and  General 
Granier,  and  she  guaranteed  her  machine 
would  do  sixty  miles  the  hour  continuously. 
Monsieur  de  Latour  turned  pale  at  the  propo- 
sition, and  paler  still  when  General  Granier 
mentioned  that  in  the  last  upset  his  leg,  which 
he  always  carried  loaded,  had  accidentally 
gone  off  and  sent  a  bullet  through  the  hat  of 
the  semi-royal  duke. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say,"  asked  Monsieur 
de  Latour  in  a  shocked  voice,  of  General 
Granier,  "  that  you  keep  that  leg  loaded  on 
these  expeditions?  " 

"  Certainly,"  answered  General-  Granier, 
grinning,  "  I  am  practising  a  new  feat,  shoot- 
ing at  objects  as  we  bowl  along  at  sixty  miles 
an  hour." 

"  But  when  you  are  upset,  which  seems  to 
108 


A    DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

occur  every  time  you  go  out?  I  should  not 
like  to  have  been  in  the  duke's  place  in  that 
last  accident." 

"  My  dear  man,"  gaily  interrupted  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard,  "  we  are  not  upset  more 
than  two  or  three  times  a  week.  And  the  duke 
did  not  mind  having  his  hat  spoiled.  After  all, 
you  can  buy  a  very  good  hat  anywhere  for  fif- 
teen francs." 

This  view  of  the  accident  was  novel  to  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour,  but  the  notion  of  appearing 
on  the  streets  of  Dinard  in  a  motor-car  with 
Madame  de  Beauregard  and  a  semi-royal 
duke,  the  glorious  reputation  he  would  acquire 
of  being  a  sad  dog,  the  commotion  it  would 
make  at  Brionville,  and,  above  all,  the  acute 
misery  he  imagined  it  would  cause  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri,  were  vastly  attractive  to  him. 
Madame  de  Beauregard,  however,  was  not  in 
the  habit  of  leaving  gentlemen  any  choice  in 
accepting  her  invitations,  and  demanded  that 
Monsieur  de  Latour  should  meet  her  at  a  cer- 
tain place  in  the  town  that  afternoon  at  four 
o'clock.  She  took  a  great  deal  of  notice  of 
both  Louis  and  Julie,  but  did  not  ask  them  to 
109 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

accompany  her  upon  the  proposed  motor-car 
expedition. 

The  old  lady  then  departed  with  her  suite. 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  torn  with  conflicting 
emotions  about  the  automobile  party,  was 
quite  unequal  to  any  work  that  day,  and  Louis 
volunteering  to  answer  some  routine  letters  for 
him  according  to  general  directions,  Monsieur 
de  Latour  left  the  two  at  the  writing-table  on 
the  terrace,  where  they  spent  most  of  the  morn- 
ing. Monsieur  de  Latour,  wandering  like  an 
unquiet  ghost  about  the  chateau  trying  to 
make  up  his  mind  whether  he  should  risk  his 
neck  or  not  in  the  auto-car  that  afternoon,  no- 
ticed vaguely  that  Louis  and  Julie  appeared 
to  have  a  great  deal  to  say  to  each  other  as 
they  sat  at  the  writing-table  in  the  morning 
glow  and  scribbled  at  intervals. 

When  Julie  took  her  departure  for  the 
Villa  Rose  shortly  after  one  o'clock  Louis 
went  in  search  of  Monsieur  de  Latour,  who 
was  found  sitting  in  one  of  the  deserted 
rooms,  his  head  in  his  hands. 

"  My  dear  uncle,"  asked  Louis,  "  what  is 
the  matter?  " 

no 


A   DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

"  I  am  considering,"  gloomily  responded 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  his  ears  still  in  his  hands, 
u  whether  it  is  worth  while  to  risk  my  neck  in 
that  auto-car  trip  this  afternoon  or  not.  Be- 
sides the  danger  of  being  upset  and  of  being 
run  into,  there  is  that  terrible  risk  of  being 
shot  by  General  Granier's  leg." 

"  Or  drowned,"  solemnly  added  Louis. 
"  The  last  accident  that  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard  had  the  auto-car  ran  into  the  sea  and 
headed  for  the  bottom  like  a  submarine 
boat." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  groaned. 

"  But  you  must  not  flinch,"  continued  Louis 
sternly.  "  You,  who  aspire  to  the  headship 
of  the  house  of  De  Latour,  afraid  of  being 
drowned  or  crushed  or  shot !  The  De  Latours 
are  hard  to  kill.  Have  you  never  heard  of 
that  distinguished  ancestor  of  mine  who  de- 
termined to  commit  suicide  because  a  lady  had 
preferred  the  favour  of  the  great  Napoleon  to 
himself  ?  He  swallowed  a  dose  of  poison,  tied 
a  rope  around  his  neck,  took  a  cocked  pistol  in 
his  hand,  and  jumped  overboard  in  the  deter- 
mination to  meet  death  either  by  poison,  hang- 
ili 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

ing,  shooting,  or  drowning.  He  swallowed  so 
much  salt  water  that  he  got  rid  of  the  poison, 
and,  firing  his  pistol,  cut  the  rope  and  was 
rescued  without  being  in  the  least  injured." 

"  Pray  Heaven  his  fate  may  be  mine,"  was 
Monsieur  de  Latour's  pious  comment. 

Louis  continued  urging  him,  and  finally 
Monsieur  de  Latour  screwed  up  his  courage 
to  the  point  of  making  an  elaborate  toilet  and 
meeting  his  appointment  with  Madame  de 
Beauregard  at  four  o'clock.  As  soon  as  he  had 
disappeared  and  might  be  supposed  to  be  out 
of  the  town  of  Dinard,  Louis  sallied  forth  to 
pay  a  visit  to  the  ladies  at  the  Villa  Rose. 

It  was  not  yet  five  o'clock  when  he  arrived, 
but  on  being  ushered  into  the  garden,  there  he 
found  Julie  sitting  with  a  piece  of  needlework 
in  her  hand  and  a  look  of  infantile  innocence 
on  her  face.  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  who  saw 
from  her  window  Louis's  arrival,  came  down 
promptly  into  the  garden ;  nevertheless,  Louis 
and  Julie  had  a  delicious  five  minutes  together, 
for  every  moment  they  spent  alone  was  like 
paradise  to  both  of  them.  Then  Melanie  ap- 
peared, and  Louis  exerting  all  his  powers  to 

112 


A   DUKE   AND   AN  AUTO-CAR 

please,  which  were  considerable,  charmed 
Mademoiselle  Cheri  and  Melanie  almost  as 
much  as  he  did  Julie.  They  had  tea  merrily 
together,  and  it  seemed  scarcely  an  hour  had 
passed  since  Louis's  arrival  when  they  heard  a 
neighbouring  clock  strike  seven. 

At  the  same  moment  Monsieur  de  Latour 
entered  the  garden.  He  was  a  pitiable-looking 
object.  One  side  of  him  was  all  mud  and 
the  other  side  of  him  all  dust,  his  hat  was 
battered,  his  coat  totally  wrecked,  and  he 
limped  slightly.  To  the  anxious  inquiries  of 
the  ladies  he  only  replied  shortly: 

"  I  have  been  automobiling  with  Madame 
de  Beauregard." 

"  You  have  got  out. of  it  better  than  most 
people,"  remarked  Louis. 

"  Yes,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  "  I  have, 
on  the  whole,  been  fortunate.  General 
Granier  kept  up  a  continual  fusillade  and  suc- 
ceeded in  potting  a  cow  and  a  calf.  He  fired 
over  my  shoulder  and  under  my  legs,  and,  I 
need  not  say,  made  me  very  uneasy.  As  for 
that  devil  "of  a  chauffeur,  I  believe  he  did  his 
best  to  upset  us,  egged  on  by  Madame  de 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

Beauregard  and  the  duke.  None  of  them  ex- 
cept me  seemed  afraid  of  anything — but  I 
candidly  admit  that  the  next  time  Madame  de 
Beauregard  asks  me  to  go  automobiling  I 
shall  take  the  first  train  for  Paris.  Give  me 
some  tea,  Melanie,  for  Heaven's  sake,  and  let 
me  go  to  bed  and  rest  my  nerves."  Which  he 
proceeded  to  do  as  soon  as  he  had  disposed  of 
his  tea. 

By  eight  o'clock  he  was  sound  asleep  in  bed. 
Just  as  he  was  comfortably  tucked  in  he  heard 
a  tremendous  commotion  in  front  of  the  villa. 
Madame  de  Beauregard  had  come  to  ask  him 
to  go  upon  a  moonlight  expedition  in  the 
motor-car,  but  this  Monsieur  de  Latour  firmly 
declined  to  do,  and  for  fear  Madame  de  Beau- 
regard  should  come  up  and  drag  him  out  of 
bed  he  locked  and  double-locked  the  door  and 
breathed  a  sigh  of  relief  when  he  heard  the 
auto-car  clattering  away  in  the  distance. 

For  several  days  after  the  auto-car  expedi- 
tion Monsieur  de  Latour  was  laid  up  for  re- 
pairs; but  he  was  nevertheless  able,  though 
somewhat  dilapidated,  to  get  about,  and  espe- 
cially to  superintend  the  work  being  done  at 
114 


I  have  been  automobiling  with  Madame  de  Beauregard. 


A   DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir.  He  did  not, 
however,  do  any  more  automobiling  with  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard,  although  the  old  lady 
pursued  him  to  that  end  in  such  a  way  that  she 
declared  she  was  afraid  every  rag  of  her  repu- 
tation would  be  lost.  It  was  in  vain  that  she 
offered  him  the  inducement  of  the  semi-royal 
duke's  society  and  other  very  great  people. 
Monsieur  de  Latour  was  firm  in  declining. 
He  loved  rank  and  high-sounding  names,  but 
he  loved  his  own  carcass  better  than  either  and 
refused  to  risk  it.  He  made  business  his  ex- 
cuse, and  required  Julie's  services  every  day  at 
the  chateau;  and  Julie  was  always  promptly 
on  hand. 

But,  with  the  single  exception  of  being 
always  on  the  spot  at  the  moment,  Julie's 
ideas  of  business  were  rudimentary.  After 
a  day  or  two,  when  replies  to  his  letters  began 
to  come  in,  Monsieur  de  Latour  discovered  a 
peculiarity  of  Julie's,  which  was  that  it  seemed 
impossible  she  should  write  any  communica- 
tion without  omitting  at  least  one  word.  It 
was  rarely  more  than  one,  and  generally,  as 
Julie  urged  in  extenuation,  a  very  little  one, 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

an  "  an  "  or  a  "  but,"  but  it  was  always  at  a 
critical  point  and  invariably  resulted  in  end- 
less confusion  and  misunderstandings.  At 
first  Monsieur  de  Latour,  meaning  to  instruct 
Julie  in  the  art  of  transacting  the  business  of 
a  private  secretary,  remonstrated  with  her 
kindly.  Julie  took  these  remonstrances  in  the 
most  amiable  manner  possible,  made  profuse 
apologies  and  promises  to  reform,  and  re- 
peated the  mistake  as  soon  as  possible  there- 
after. Then  Monsieur  de  Latour  attempted 
to  be  stern,  and  Julie,  with  a  sidelong  glance 
of  her  beautiful  eyes,  explained  that,  much 
as  she  sought  to  be  exact,  it  was  impossible  for 
her  to  be  so  because  he  was  so  interesting  she 
was  always  wondering  about  him,  whether  he 
had  been  happy  all  his  life,  and  if  he  had  ever 
had  a  real  love-affair,  and  how  many  women 
had  wished  to  marry  him.  At  that  Monsieur 
de  Latour's  mouth,  in  spite  of  him,  came  open 
like  a  rat-trap,  and  there  was  nothing  more 
to  be  said. 

Again  he  was  seriously  vexed.     By  Julie's 
process  he  was  made  to  declare  that  a  pair  of 
carriage-horses  which  he  had  sold  for  a  high 
116 


A    DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

price,  had  not  four  good  legs  between  them, 
and  that  he  knew  it  at  the  time  of  selling. 
When  this  was  traced  home  to  Julie  she 
laughed  delightedly  and  cried : 

"  But  you  got  the  money,  didn't  you,  mon- 
sieur? What  difference  does  it  make  about 
the  horses'  legs?  " 

"  It  makes  a  great  deal  of  difference,"  re- 
plied Monsieur  de  Latour  grimly,  "  whether 
a  horse  has  four  legs  or  two." 

"  Then,"  cried  Julie,  clapping  her  hands, 
"  why  not  write  and  tell  the  person  who  bought 
the  horses  all  about  General  Granier's  leg? 
That  will  amuse  him,  and  then  he  will  forget 
that  the  horses  you  sold  him  only  had  four 
good  legs  between  them." 

"Mademoiselle!"  roared  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  now  fairly  roused. 

But  before  he  could  say  another  word  Julie 
jumped  up  and,  blowing  him  a  couple  of 
kisses  from  her  finger-tips,  cried: 

"  There,  there,  don't  worry  about  it!  You 

have  got  the  money   and  you've   sold  two 

worthless  horses  for  the  price  of  a  pair  of 

good  ones  and  that's  all — my  time  is  up — 

117 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

come    to    tea    at   five — adieu !  "      And    she 
ran  off. 

This  was  certainly  very  provoking,  thought 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  but  he  had  been  so  deter- 
mined on  securing  Julie's  presence  he  was  loath 
to  admit  what  Mademoiselle  Cheri  had  said 
from  the  beginning,  that  Julie  was  not  fitted 
to  be  a  private  secretary. 

Meanwhile  preparations  for  the  house 
party  went  on  famously,  and  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  who  had  among  his  other  virtues  a 
true  hospitality,  looked  forward  with  pleasure 
to  having  the  chateau  full  of  guests.  Louis 
insisted  that  Monsieur  de  Latour  should  play 
the  host  quite  as  much  as  himself,  and  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  was  more  than  willing. 

He  had  asked  Madame  de  Beauregard 
several  times  about  his  ward,  Mademoiselle  de 
Bresac,  and  had  sent  her  a  cordial  invitation  to 
join  the  party  at  the  chateau.  But  Mademoi- 
selle de  Bresac  appeared  to  be  a  will-o'-the- 
wisp — so  much  so  that  Monsieur  de  Latour 
one  day  remarked  to  Louis,  as  Madame  de 
Beauregard  with  her  party  in  a  magnificent 
red  devil  whizzed  past  them  on  the  road: 
118 


A    DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

"  I  think  there  is  some  mystery  about  my 
ward,  Mademoiselle  de  Bresac.  I  find  it  im- 
possible to  get  from  Madame  de  Beauregard 
Mademoiselle  de  Bresac's  actual  abiding- 
place.  One  day  she  is  in  the  country  near 
here,  another  day  she  is  in  a  convent  at  St. 
Malo,  another  time  she  is  nursing  an  invalid 
cousin  at  Paris,  yesterday  she  was  making  a 
visit  to  England,  and  this  morning  Madame 
de  Beauregard  tells  me  she  is  in  Switzerland. 
She  appears  to  be  quite  as  gay  as  her  aunt." 

"  Yes,"  assented  Louis,  "  but  I  have  reason 
to  know  that  she  is  very  charming." 

"  I  wish  very  much  that  she  could  join  our 
party  at  the  chateau  for  next  week.  Can  you 
contrive  to  find  out  where  she  is  and  to  secure 
her  presence?  " 

"  I  think,  possibly,"  replied  Louis  medi- 
tatively as  they  walked  along  the  sunny  street, 
"  I  might  do  so." 

"  It  would  be  a  real  gratification  to  me,  and 
it  would  add  to  the  obligations  I  already  owe 
you,  for,  my  dear  Louis,  I  appreciate  very 
much  your  politeness  to  me  and  to  my  niece, 
and  also  to  Mademoiselle  Cheri.  There  are 
119 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

some  things  in  our  agreement  which  cannot  be 
reckoned  in  money,  and  one  of  them  is  your 
courtesy  to  my  family.  It  is  evident  that  you 
are  not  ashamed  of  us." 

"  Far  from  it,"  replied  Louis.  "  You  know 
the  pride  and  delight  I  take  in  you,  the  very 
flower  of  the  De  Latours,  and  I  am  more  than 
pleased  to  acknowledge  Melanie  as  my 
cousin." 

It  was  with  genuine  enjoyment  that  Mon- 
sieur de  La  tour,  on  the  tenth  day  after  the 
influx  of  workmen  in  the  chateau,  saw  the  last 
of  them  depart  and  awaited  the  arrival  of 
a  house  party  consisting  of  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  and  his  niece,  of  Julie,  whom  he  posi- 
tively declared  it  impossible  to  transact  busi- 
ness without,  and  whom  it  was  equally  impos- 
sible to  transact  business  with,  of  Madame  de 
Beauregard  and  Eugene  de  Contiac.  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  had  felt  some  compunction  at 
not  inviting  General  Granier  to  stay  at  the 
chateau,  but  although  his  present  inclination 
was  that  Madame  de  Beauregard  was  entire- 
ly too  old  for  him  and  Julie  just  the  right 
age,  yet  he  decided  that  General  Granier, 

120 


A   DUKE   AND   AN  AUTO-CAR 

with  his  military  air,  his  title  as  general,  and 
his  interesting  wooden  leg,  was  too  dangerous 
a  rival.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  General  Gra- 
nier  had  endless  stories  to  tell  of  his  prowess 
with  his  leg,  of  various  kinds  of  game 
brought  down,  the  snuffing  of  candles,  the  hit- 
ting of  bull's-eyes  and  all  the  other  achieve- 
ments of  a  crack  shot.  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard  had  frankly  asked,  and  even  insisted, 
that  General  Granier  should  be  invited,  but- 
the  more  she  insisted  the  less  inclined  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  was  to  bring  the  fascinating 
old  general  into  competition  with  himself. 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  madame,"  he  had 
said  to  the  Comtesse  de  Beauregard,  "  I  am 
afraid  of  that  leg  of  General  Granier's.  I  be- 
lieve it  is  always  loaded,  and  is  liable  to  go  off 
at  any  time.  Now,  suppose  we  were  sitting  at 
dinner,  for  example,  and  the  general  should 
inadvertently  clap  his  hand  into  his  pocket 
and  touch  the  trigger — what  do  you  suppose 
would  happen?  " 

"  That  would  depend  altogether  upon  the 
direction  of  the  leg,  my  dear  man,"  replied 
Madame    de    Beauregard,    who    often    ad- 
9  121 


THE   CHATEAV   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

dressed  Monsieur  de  Latour  in  this  familiar 
manner.  "  For  my  part  I  find  General  Gra- 
nier's  leg  far  more  interesting  than  his  head, 
and  I  am  not  in  the  least  afraid  of  either. 
However,  I  shall  ask  him  up  to  tea  every 
afternoon,  and  you  can  invite  him  to  remain 
to  dinner,  and  if  you  don't  I  will." 

Such  was  the  lady  whom  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  had  invited  to  pay  him  a  visit.  It  even 
occurred  to  him  that  it  was  just  as  well  his 
ward,  Mademoiselle  de  Bresac,  did  not  see 
very  much  of  her  aunt,  and  out  of  regard  for 
her  father's  memory  Monsieur  de  Latour 
would  have  welcomed  the  marriage  of  Julie 
de  Bresac  so  that  he  could  see  her  in  the  hands 
of  a  discreet  husband. 

However,  all  these  misgivings  were  in 
abeyance  on  the  August  afternoon  when 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  with  Louis,  made  a  final 
inspection  of  the  wing  of  the  chateau  which 
had  been  made  habitable.  Wonders  had  been 
worked  by  the  army  of  artisans.  The  walls 
and  ceilings  which  showed  age  and  decay 
most  were  covered,  when  possible,  with  dra- 
peries, pictures,  and  mirrors.  The  discoloured 

122 


A   DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

floors  were  concealed  by  costly  rugs,  and  car- 
loads of  furniture  had  been  distributed  among 
the  great  rooms.  A  large  domestic  staff  had 
arrived  from  Brionville,  and  Suzette  had 
been  deposed  as  major-domo,  cook,  and  house- 
maid. Her  services,  however,  as  valet  were 
retained  by  Louis,  who  declared  his  intention 
of  teaching  her  to  shave  him,  as  she  already 
dressed  him. 

Suzette  was  delighted  at  the  turn  affairs 
had  taken,  for  she  had  become  much  attached 
to  Louis  in  the  days  of  his  poverty  and  re- 
joiced in  his  prosperity.  Louis,  himself,  felt 
as  if  he  were  taking  part  in  the  adventures  of 
Aladdin,  and  walked  about  the  chateau  in  a 
dazed  fashion,  wondering  if  the  gilt  chairs 
were  real  or  if  the  rugs  were  not  an  optical 
illusion.  Daily  his  gratitude  became  more 
effervescent,  and  he  implored  from  Monsieur 
de  Latour  the  privilege  of  embracing  him  at 
least  four  instead  of  three  times  a  day;  this, 
however,  Monsieur  de  Latour  promptly  re- 
fused. 

"  But  I  must  embrace  something,"  cried 
Louis  in  the  exuberance  of  feeling. 
123 


THE  CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  Then  go  and  try  your  hand  on  Madame 
de  Beauregard,"  replied  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour. 

Louis  misinterpreted  this  recommendation, 
and  within  half  an  hour  afterward  came  very 
near  being  caught  by  Monsieur  de  Latour  in 
the  act  of  embracing  Julie.  For  Julie  was  sit- 
ting in  her  usual  place  on  the  terrace  before 
the  writing-table,  waiting  for  Monsieur  de 
Latour  to  arrive,  when  Louis,  stealing  up  to 
her,  whispered  in  her  ear : 

"  Julie,  to-morrow  the  papers  will  be  signed 
making  me  Monsieur  de  Latour's  nephew, 
and  three  hundred  thousand  francs  will  be 
mine,  in  addition  to  the  Chateau  of  Montplai- 
sir." 

Louis  paused,  and  Julie,  whose  pretty  eyes 
were  downcast,  raised  them  and  giving  him 
a  bewitching  glance,  said : 

"  I  care  nothing  for  your  three  hundred 
thousand  francs." 

Louis's  face  grew  pale,  and  paler  still  when 
Julie  added  after  a  moment: 

"  Nor  for  your  Chateau  of  Montplaisir." 

And  then,  looking  around  and  seeing  no 
124 


A    DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

one  in  sight,  she  extended  her  hand  a  little 
toward  Louis — a  trifling  gesture,  but  full  of 
sweet  meaning.  Her  eyes  said  plainly,  "  It  is 
you  for  whom  I  care."  The  look  was  illumina- 
ting. 

"  Mademoiselle,  may  I  show  you  the 
orangery  which  has  just  been  formed  at  the 
south  end  of  the  terrace?  " 

Julie  rose  willingly  enough,  and  the  two, 
walking  on  air,  as  it  were,  passed  along  the 
terrace  to  the  extreme  end  where  dozens  of 
orange-trees  in  tubs  made  a  place  of  sylvan 
beauty.  When  they  were  under  the  green  ar- 
cade they  were  quite  secure  from  observation. 
There  was  no  time  to  think.  Neither  knew 
how  it  happened,  but  suddenly  Louis's  arm 
was  around  Julie  and  their  lips  had  met. 
And  the  next  moment  Monsieur  de  Latour's 
jovial  voice  resounded  at  the  other  end  of  the 
arcade. 

"Where  is  Mademoiselle  de  Courcey?  I 
have  something  here  very  important  to  be 
copied." 

Julie  scuttled  back  to  the  writing-table  in 
less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell,  and  Louis, 
125 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

far  less  self-composed,  dashed  around  the 
corner  of  the  terrace  and  disappeared.  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  came  bustling  out  with  a  tele- 
gram in  his  hand. 

"  My  dear  young  lady,"  he  asked,  "  please 
answer  this  at  once,  and  pray  be  careful.  I 
think,  so  far  as  I  know,  that  you  have  not  yet 
written  anything  for  me  precisely  as  I  dic- 
tated it.  There  is  always  a  word  or  two  goes 
wrong.  But  nothing  must  go  wrong  now. 
Here  you  see  at  the  factory  they  are  asking 
directions  about  a  large  quantity  of  soap  now 
boiling.  They  want  to  know  about  adding 
more  soda.  So,  write  the  despatch,  thus." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  gave  the  address  and 
then  dictated  slowly  and  portentously : 

"Whatever  you  do,  put  no  more  soda  in  the  sixteen 
vats." 

"  Now  write  it  out  for  me  quickly,  so  that 
I  can  send  it  off." 

Julie,  who  was  still  palpitating  and  blush- 
ing, and  to  whom  the  absent  Louis  was  nearer 
than  the  present  Monsieur  de  Latour,  wrote 
out  the  despatch  and  handed  it  to  Monsieur 
126 


A    DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

de  Latour  to  read.  He  put  on  his  spectacles 
and  tried  to  make  it  out,  but  could  not. 

"  It's  very  inconvenient,"  he  said  after  a 
moment  or  two,  "  having  a  private  secretary 
who  can't  write  legibly.  I  shall  have  to  write 
this  despatch  myself." 

He  sat  down  and  wrote  it  out,  and  then 
calling  a  servant  to  Julie  to  send  the  despatch, 
bustled  away  himself  to  give  the  last  orders 
for  the  entertainment  of  his  guests.  When 
the  servant  came,  Julie,  whose  head  and  heart 
were  in  a  whirl,  absently  followed  her  usual 
practice,  handed  him  her  own  despatch  and 
carefully  tucked  Monsieur  de  Latour's  away 
in  her  belt,  which  served  her  for  a  despatch- 
box,  escritoire  and  burglar-proof  safe  com- 
bined, for  the  important  papers  confided  to 
her  charge. 

And  then  Madame  de  Beauregard's 
screeches  of  laughter  being  heard  in  the  court- 
yard, Julie  saw  that  gay  old  person  descend- 
ing from  her  favourite  red  devil,  which  was 
snorting  and  puffing  before  the  main  door  of 
the  chateau.  She  was  accompanied  by  Eu- 
gene de  Contiac,  General  Granier,  and  by  an 
127 


THE   CHATEAU   OF   MONTPLAISIR 

unexpected  guest  in  the  person  of  her  lawyer, 
Monsieur  Bertoux.  He  was  a  staid  and  some- 
what wary-looking  man,  which  would  natu- 
rally be  the  case,  as  he  lived  in  hot  pursuit 
of  Madame  de  Beauregard  and  was  required 
to  make  almost  monthly  changes  in  the  dis- 
position of  her  property.  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  followed  by  Louis,  came  out  to 
greet  them. 

"  You  see,  my  dear  man,"  cried  the  old 
lady  to  Monsieur  de  Latour,  who  had  ad- 
vanced to  greet  her,  "  I  have  brought  Mon- 
sieur Bertoux  along  with  me.  He  is  a  very 
pleasant  sort  of  person,  and  more  interesting 
than  he  looks,  as  you  will  find  out.  And 
besides,  I  foresee  that  unless  my  nephew 
changes  his  course  I  shall  be  compelled  not 
only  to  leave  him  out  of  my  will,  but  to  cut 
off  his  allowance.  It  is  always  the  way,"  con- 
tinued the  old  lady  quite  angrily;  "just  as 
soon  as  he  falls  under  the  influence  of  your 
niece,  Melanie,  Eugene  forgets  all  the  in- 
structions I  have  given  him  to  be  a  man,  and 
a  very  larky  one  at  that,  and  gets  so  dread- 
fully pious  and  moral  there  is  really  no 
128 


A    DUKE   AND   AN  AUTO-CAR 

standing  him.  And  as  of  course  he  will  have 
to  see  a  great  deal  of  Melanie  during  this 
visit,  I  thought  it  just  as  well  to  have  my 
lawyer  on  the  spot,  in  case  Eugene  should  go 
to  extremes  and  insist  on  going  to  church 
every  morning,  for  example.  Not  that  I 
have  the  slightest  personal  objection  to  Me- 
lanie— it  is  only  her  principles  that  I  oppose, 
and  if  she  will  turn  about  and  commit  a  few 
indiscretions  I  shall  be  more  than  willing  for 
the  match.  But  I  don't  want  any  of  these 
pious  and  God-fearing  men  in  my  family,  and 
Eugene  must  be  a  man  of  spirit  if  he  wants 
to  get  my  money." 

And  then,  turning  to  Louis,  she  said  laugh- 
ing: 

"  Now,  if  you  will  engage  to  lead  this 
goody-goody  boy  astray  I  will  give  you  some- 
thing handsome,  because  I  see  that  you  are 
one  of  the  devil's  darlings,  and  that's  the  sort 
I  like." 

"  Madame,    you    praise    me    beyond    my 

deserts,"  replied  Louis,  taking  the  old  lady's 

hand  and  kissing  it  gallantly.     "  But  if  you, 

with  your  fascinations  and  delightful  exam- 

129 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

pie,  cannot  succeed  in  leading  him  astray,  no- 
body can." 

The  old  lady  screamed  with  delight  at  this 
bold  declaration,  which  was  received  by  Eu- 
gene in  sheepish  silence,  and  at  that  very  mo- 
ment Melanie  and  Mademoiselle  Cheri  ap- 
peared. Madame  de  Beauregard  had  a 
voice  like  an  auctioneer,  and  her  words  were 
plainly  audible  to  the  advancing  Melanie. 
Madame  de  Beauregard,  however,  with  the 
utmost  goodwill  greeted  her  and  Mademoi- 
selle Cherie. 

"  I  dare  say,  my  dear,"  she  cried  to  Me- 
lanie, "  you  heard  every  word  that  I  said,  and 
I  mean  to  stand  by  it.  Either  you  and  Eu- 
gene have  got  to  change  your  principles,  or 
you  won't  get  a  centime  of  my  money.  While 
I  am  here  I  shall  give  you  every  opportunity 
to  commit  any  of  the  delightful  improprieties 
which  you  might,  but  won't." 

Eugene  and  Melanie  presented  a  pitiable 
sight  while  this  was  going  on.  Both  blushed 
and  were  embarrassed  beyond  measure.  But 
Monsieur  de  Latour  came  to  their  relief  by 
cordially  welcoming  Madame  de  Beauregard 
130 


A    DUKE   AND   AN  AUTO-CAR 

and  inviting  the  entire  party  to  make  a  tour 
of  the  renovated  wing  of  the  chateau.  Mar- 
vels had  certainly  been  accomplished,  and 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  anxious  to  justify  him- 
self for  the  employment  of  his  private  sec- 
retary, would  say  of  everything,  "  This  was 
the  result  of  Mademoiselle  de  Courcey's 
taste,"  or,  "I  contrived  to  get  this  done 
through  Mademoiselle  de  Courcey's  prompt- 
ness in  telegraphing  my  orders." 

The  party  at  his  heels  listened  to  all  of 
these  explanations,  and  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard  cackled  every  time  that  Monsieur  de 
Latour  brought  in  Julie's  name,  and  was  in 
a  perfect  ecstasy  when  he  said,  with  ponder- 
ous courtesy: 

"  My  only  regret  is  that  your  niece,  Made- 
moiselle de  Bresac,  is  not  of  the  party.  Noth- 
ing would  have  given  me  more  pleasure  than 
to  have  entertained  at  the  Chateau  of  Mont- 
plaisir,  the  ancestral  seat  of  the  De  Latours, 
the  daughter  of  the  Vicomte  de  Bresac,  who 
honoured  me  with  his  friendship." 

"  Oh,"  cried  Mademoiselle  Cheri  inno- 
cently, "  how  pleased  your  father,  the  soap 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

boiler,  would  have  been  to  see  you  in  such 
grand  company  as  this!  " 

Monsieur  de  Latour  professed  not  to  hear 
this  speech,  but  listened  rather  to  Madame  de 
Beauregard,  who  was  saying : 

"  It  is  a  thousand  pities,  my  dear  man,  that 
my  niece  is  taking  the  mud  baths  at  Carlsbad. 
You  should  know  that  girl." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  listened  to  this  in  si- 
lence, but  looked  toward  Louis  with  an  ex- 
pression which  said  plainly,  "  I  told  you  so !  " 

Tea  was  served  on  the  terrace,  and,  after 
the  manner  of  such  affairs,  Julie  and  Louis 
found  themselves  sitting  next  each  other, 
while  Melanie  and  Eugene,  some  distance 
apart,  yet  exchanged  timid,  longing  glances. 
Madame  de  Beauregard  held  her  court  at  the 
tea-table.  Monsieur  Bertoux  was  a  very  si- 
lent man,  who  rarely  opened  his  mouth  except 
to  put  something  in  it,  and  seemed  to  accept 
quietly  his  position  of  a  rod  held  in  terrorem 
over  Eugene  de  Contiac  as  a  punishment  for 
good  behaviour. 

The  purple  twilight  fell  and  a  faint  young 
moon  shimmered  upon  the  sea  in  which  the 
132 


A   DUKE  AND   AN  AUTO-CAR 

large,  palpitating  stars  were  reflected.  The 
daylight  of  late  summer  had  gone  before 
eight  o'clock,  when  dinner  was  announced. 

The  dining-saloon,  which  a  fortnight  be- 
fore had  been  a  picture  of  gaunt  neglect,  was 
now  resplendent.  Shaded  lamps  and  can- 
dles shone  everywhere;  pictures,  mirrors, 
draperies  covered  the  walls;  the  alleged  Sal- 
vator  Rosa  had  been  removed  and  cast  into 
the  ash-heap.  The  table  glittered  with  glass 
and  silver,  and  was  charmingly  decorated 
with  deep  red  roses,  and  an  exquisite  dinner 
was  served.  Everybody's  spirits  rose,  includ- 
ing even  those  of  the  silent  Monsieur  Bertoux, 
who  foresaw  that  he  would  make  half  a 
dozen  wills  for  Madame  de  Beauregard  be- 
fore she  left  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  dinner  the  butler 
handed  a  telegram  to  Monsieur  de  Latour. 
By  permission  of  the  ladies  he  opened  it,  and 
his  countenance  changed  at  once. 

"  This  is  outrageous !  "  he  cried.     "  I  tele- 
graphed to  Brionville  expressly  that  no  more 
soda  was  to  be  added  to  those  sixteen  vats  of 
soap,  and  here  they  send  me  this  answer : 
133 


THE   CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

'"Your  despatch  received.  Have  added  soda,  as  di- 
rected, to  sixteen  vats.  ' 

"  I  sent  no  such  despatch,  and  if  the  people 
in  the  telegraph  office  sent  such  a  one  I  shall 
claim  heavy  damages.  That  means  sixteen 
vats  of  soap  ruined !  " 

Then,  excusing  himself,  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  bustled  off  to  the  telephone,  where  he 
remained  in  angry  colloquy  with  the  tele- 
graph office  for  ten  minutes.  Julie,  mean- 
while, seated  next  Louis,  was  quite  smiling 
and  at  her  ease.  When  Monsieur  de  Latour 
returned  his  brow  was  clouded,  and  as  the 
ladies  were  leaving  for  the  drawing-room 
where  coffee  was  served,  Monsieur  de  Latour 
politely  but  grimly  requested  Julie  to 
remain. 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Julie  gaily,  "  but  may 
your  nephew,  Monsieur  Louis,  remain,  too? 
Because  you  look  as  if  you  would  eat  me  up, 
and  I  am  afraid  to  be  left  with  you.  And, 
besides,  you  are  so  fascinating  that  people 
may  say  I  am  trying  to  marry  you,  so  I  think 
we  must  have  a  chaperon." 

"  Just  as  you  like,  mademoiselle,"  replied 
134 


A    DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO -CAR. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  in  the  Grossest  tone  he 
had  ever  used  to  a  young  and  pretty  woman. 

When  he  was  left  alone  in  the  dining-room 
with  Julie  and  Louis  he  began  in  a  tone  of 
profound  vexation: 

"  My  dear  young  lady,  when  I  engaged 
you  as  my  private  secretary  I  knew  that  you 
had  none  of  the  qualifications  which  are  usu- 
ally required  in  that  capacity,  but  I  thought 
you  could  write  a  simple  despatch  at  my 
dictation,  especially  when  I  warned  you  to  be 
very  careful.  Now,  in  everything  that  you 
have  written  for  me  you  have  managed  to  get 
at  least  one  word  wrong." 

"  But  only  one  word,  monsieur,"  answered 
Julie,  going  and  sitting  down  in  a  chair  and 
helping  herself  to  a  bunch  of  grapes. 

"  But  that  one  word  has  always  produced 
a  cataclysm.  Do  you  see  the  result  of  leaving 
out  one  word  in  that  despatch  about  the 
soda?" 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  cried  Julie,  snipping  off  the 

grapes  and  handing  some  to  Louis.     "  These 

are  delicious  grapes — I  wonder  if  they  are 

grown  at  Dinard?     Yes,  Monsieur  de  La- 

135 


THE   CHATEAV   OF  MONTPLAISIK. 

tour,  I  dare  say  those  telegraph  people  are 
right  and  I  did  leave  out  one  word,  but  only 
one,  and  that  such  a  little  one." 

"  It  was  big  enough  to  ruin  sixteen  vats  of 
soap,"  tartly  responded  Monsieur  de  Latour. 

He  wished  that  Julie  were  not  quite  so 
pretty,  and  that  he  could  keep  his  eyes  off  her 
pink  fingers  and  rosy  mouth  as  she  disposed 
of  the  grapes. 

"  But  I  heard  you  say  yourself,  mon- 
sieur," she  said,  snipping  off  some  more  grapes 
and  handing  them  to  him,  "  that  you  never 
used  soap — you  always  used  white  sand — so 
what  does  it  matter  about  the  sixteen  vats?  " 

Monsieur  de  Latour  groaned.  Would  he 
ever  be  able  to  make  Julie  understand  the  first 
principles  of  business  ?  At  the  same  time,  the 
thought  of  parting  with  her  was  not  agreeable 
to  him — he  enjoyed  her  society  too  much. 

"  Very  well,  mademoiselle,"  he  said,  try- 
ing to  be  stern.  "  All  I  have  to  say  is  that  you 
must  be  more  careful  in  the  future.  The  no- 
tary will  be  here  to-morrow,  bringing  the 
papers  arranging  matters  between  my  nephew 
and  myself,  and,  luckily,  he  will  no  doubt  cor- 
136 


A    DUKE   AND   AN   AUTO-CAR 

rect  any  blunders  which  you  may  have  made 
in  the  copy  which  I  dictated  to  you." 

"  I  haven't  made  any  blunders,"  cried  Julie, 
laughing.  "  I  wrote  exactly  what  you  dic- 
tated, and  if  there  are  any  blunders  they  will 
be  the  notary's.  Come,  now,  if  you  are 
through  scolding  me,  let  us  go  and  have  coffee 
with  the  rest." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  had  meant  to  give  her 
a  tremendous  wigging,  but  instead  of  that  he 
found  himself  led,  ostensibly  by  the  arm  and 
secretly  by  the  nose,  into  the  drawing-room, 
with  Julie  on  his  arm  and  Louis  bringing  up 
the  rear. 

As  they  entered  the  drawing-room,  Julie 
joyfully  proclaimed: 

"  Dear  people,  I  have  made  the  most 
amusing  mistake  this  time.  I  have  ruined  six- 
teen vats  of  soap  for  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
and  he,  poor  darling,  takes  it  like  an  angel. 
But  I  won't  do  so  any  more,  I  promise  you, 
monsieur." 

"  No,  you  won't,  mademoiselle,"  replied 
Monsieur  de  Latour.  "  I  sha'n't  give  you 
the  chance." 

10  137 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

And  then,  like  the  hospitable  host  he  was, 
he  proceeded  to  forget  all  about  the  sixteen 
vats  of  ruined  soap,  and  they  had  a  merry 
evening  together,  enlivened  by  Julie's  songs 
at  the  piano. 


138 


VI 


JULIE'S  LITTLE  MISTAKE 

HE  next  day  at  twelve  o'clock 
was  the  hour  fixed  for  the  sign- 
ing of  the  papers  making  legal 
the  adoption,  by  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  of  Louis,  and  transferring  to  Louis's 
credit  three  hundred  thousand  francs  in  the 
Bank  of  France.  All  of  the  guests  of  the 
Chateau  of  Montplaisir  were  invited  to  assem- 
ble in  the  grand  saloon  to  witness  this  impor- 
tant affair.  The  notary,  with  his  clerk,  arrived, 
the  papers  were  brought  out  and  examined, 
and  Monsieur  de  Latour,  with  a  gold  pen,  a 
pompous  air,  and  a  great  flourish,  signed  his 
name.  This  was  followed  by  Louis,  who  took 
the  occasion  to  make  a  graceful  speech  of 
thanks  to  Monsieur  de  Latour,  and  to  assure 
all  present  that  he  felt  it  an  honour  to  be  re- 
139 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

lated  to  so  upright  and  enterprising  a  citizen. 
Monsieur  de  Latour  replied  affectionately,  and 
then,  luncheon  being  served,  hosts  and  guests 
drank  to  the  health  of  the  new  head  of  the 
house  of  De  Latour. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  was  indeed  a  happy 
man.  He  had  been  officially  made  a  gentle- 
man, and  he  considered  three  hundred  thou- 
sand francs  a  very  small  price  to  pay  for  the 
honour. 

All  were  in  high  spirits,  and  even  Made- 
moiselle Cheri  forebore  to  utter  some  of  those 
plain  and  rather  unpleasing  truths  with  which 
she  had  occasionally  prodded  Monsieur  de 
Latour. 

The  ladies,  after  luncheon,  retired  for  their 
siesta,  the  party  arranging  to  meet  on  the  ter- 
race, as  usual,  at  five  o'clock  for  tea.  Then 
Monsieur  de  Latour  said  to  Louis: 

"  Now,  my  dear  nephew,  come  with  me 
into  the  grand  saloon,  and  let  us  talk  over  our 
future  arrangements,  and  I  should  be  obliged 
to  you,  Mademoiselle  de  Courcey,  if  you  will 
come,  too,  as  I  may  need  your  services  as 

140 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Julie,  "  but  first  let 
me  go  and  curl  my  hair.  This  damp  climate 
takes  all  the  curl  out." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  was  a  little  annoyed  at 
this,  especially  in  the  presence  of  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri,  who  said  nothing  but  saw  every- 
thing. However,  it  would  be  a  bold  man  who 
would  refuse  permission  to  a  young  lady  to 
curl  her  hair,  and  so  Monsieur  de  Latour 
merely  asked  Julie's  presence  as  soon  as  con- 
venient. 

In  the  grand  saloon  he  unlocked  the  escri- 
toire in  which  the  papers  had  been  stowed, 
and  taking  them  out  began  to  go  over  them 
for  the  second  time  with  Louis.  All  at 
once  Monsieur  de  Latour  started  and  turned 
pale. 

"  Why,  look  here,"  he  said,  "  I  didn't  no- 
tice this  before,  but  instead  of  me,  Victor 
Louis  de  Latour,  adopting  you,  Louis  Victor 
de  Latour,  here  I  see — "  At  this  point  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  stopped,  paled,  and  with  a 
shaking  finger  pointed  to  the  impressive  legal 
paper  with  its  great  seals. 

And  there,  sure  enough,  as  plain  as  print, 
141 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

Louis  Victor  de  Latour  had  adopted  Victor 
Louis  de  Latour.  Louis  examined  the  paper 
carefully  and  laid  it  down.  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour,  running  his  hands  frantically  through  his 
scanty  hair,  cried  out: 

"It  is  all  the  work  of  that  good-for-noth- 
ing Julie,  who  is  now  upstairs  curling  her  hair. 
Well,  it  will  have  to  be  changed — that's  all. 
The  fact  is,  she  has  never  yet  written  a  letter 
or  prepared  a  document  for  me  that  she  has 
not  got  one  word  wrong.  But  she  is  so  devil- 
ish pretty  and  so  fascinating  and  such  a  de- 
lightful little  scamp  altogether  that  there  is 
no  being  angry  with  her.  However,  I  shall 
give  her  a  good  scolding  for  this,  and  the 
work  will  all  have  to  be  done  over  again." 

Louis  during  all  this  had  sat  calmly  exam- 
ining the  papers  spread  out  before  him.  His 
silence  aroused  Monsieur  de  Latour's  suspi- 
cions. 

"  Of  course,"  cried  the  old  soap  boiler,  ad- 
vancing and  mopping  his  brow,  "  you  see  the 
necessity  for  undoing  this  nonsensical  per- 
formance. You  being  my  uncle,  indeed!  " 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  replied  Louis 
142 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

coolly.  "  First  let  me  ask  you  one  question. 
Are  you  really  in  love  with  Mademoiselle 
Julie?" 

The  query  staggered  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
and  he  sat  down  quickly,  as  if  some  one  had 
hit  him  a  blow  on  the  forehead. 

"  Well,"  he  said  after  a  moment,  "  I  don't 
know  whether  I  am  or  not,  but  one  thing  is 
certain — I  intend  to  have  the  benefit  of  her 
society.  It  has  occurred  to  me  several  times 
in  the  last  few  days  that  you  were  paying 
Mademoiselle  de  Courcey  rather  more  atten- 
tion than  was  necessary,  and  it  was  distinctly 
displeasing  to  me." 

"  That  settles  it,"  replied  Louis  gravely. 
"  These  papers  stand.  I  cannot  forego  the 
honour  of  being  uncle  to  such  a  nephew  as 
yourself.  I  am  proud  of  you,  my  dear  Victor." 

Here  Louis  rose  and  patted  Monsieur  de 
Latour  patronisingly  on  the  back. 

"It  is  not  your  money  that  I  desire — that 
you  are  more  than  welcome  to — but  to  say 
to  the  world  that  I  have  such  a  nephew  as 
yourself  gives  me  the  highest  pleasure." 

"  Go  to  the  devil!  "  bawled  Monsieur  de 
143 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

Latour,  jumping  up.  "  You  are  the  most  im- 
pudent, presumptuous  dog  I  ever  saw  in  my 
life.  I  your  nephew,  indeed !  " 

"  But  I  thought  you  wanted  to  appear 
young  so  as  to  win  favour,  perhaps,  in  Made- 
moiselle Julie's  eyes." 

"  So  I  do,  but  not  so  infernally  and  ridicu- 
lously young  as  you  would  make  me  appear." 

"  Not  at  all.  I  might  have  a  brother  forty 
years  older  than  myself,  and  you  might  be 
that  brother's  son." 

"  And  I  might  elope  with  my  great-grand- 
father's sister-in-law,"  bellowed  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  "  but  we  are  not  talking  about  such 
things  as  that.  What  I  mean  to  say  is  that 
this  ridiculous  mistake  must  be  rectified.  I  am 
willing  to  adopt  you  as  my  nephew — in  fact, 
I  am  rather  pleased  to  be  related  to  you,  be- 
cause I  have  learned  to  like  you  in  spite  of 
your  assaults  upon  my  ribs.  I  am  willing  to 
be  your  uncle,  but  I  am  not  willing  to  be  your 
nephew." 

"  My  dear  boy,  the  thing  is  done.  It  is 
signed,  sealed,  and  delivered.  You  are  my 
nephew,  and  you  can't  help  yourself.  And 
144 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

remember  that  the  arrangement  carries  with 
it  the  authority  of  a  parent — for  example,  you 
cannot  marry  anybody  without  my  consent. 
Our  laws,  you  know,  are  very  specific  on  that 
point." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know,  but  you  are  talking 
nonsense !  " 

"  Am  I?  Then  try  to  contravene  my  au- 
thority and  see  what  will  happen !  " 

Monsieur  de  Latour  glared  at  Louis.  And 
just  then  the  door  opened  and  Julie  entered, 
looking,  if  possible,  prettier  than  ever. 

"  Now,"  she  said  to  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
"  I  am  ready  to  do  anything  you  ask  me — that 
is,  for  half  an  hour,  when  I  expect  the  dress- 
maker— then  I  shall  have  to  leave  you." 

"  Certainly,"  answered  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour,  laughing  sardonically.  "  Between  the 
hairdresser  and  the  dressmaker,  you  may  oc- 
casionally condescend  to  assist  me.  Thank 
you  very  much,  mademoiselle.  I  am  indebted 
to  you,  I  think,  for  the  present  piece  of  work." 

He  got  up  and,  in  his  wrath  taking  Julie 
sternly  by  the  arm,  pointed  with  an  accusing 
finger  at  the  document. 
145 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  Do  you  see,"  he  thundered,  "  that 
through  that  little  peculiarity  of  yours  by 
which  you  always  get  one  word  wrong " 

"  But  only  one  word,  monsieur,  and  then 
always  a  very  small  one." 

"  Yes,  I  know,  but  big  enough  to  do  the 
business.  Here  you  see  that  instead  of  Victor 
Louis  de  Latour  adopting  Louis  Victor  de  La- 
tour,  it  is  completely  turned  around,  and  this 
young  scapegrace  has  adopted  me.  Do  you 
understand?  " 

In  his  rage  Monsieur  de  Latour's  voice 
had  risen  to  a  roar,  but  Julie,  glancing  at  the 
paper  and  then  at  Louis,  burst  into  a  ripple  of 
laughter. 

"  Oh,  how  amusing!  "  she  cried.  "  It  is 
the  most  delightful  thing  I  ever  heard.  Did 
I  make  that  mistake?  " 

"  You  did !  "  shouted  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour,  quite  forgetting  himself  and  actually 
shaking  Julie's  arm. 

"Well,    what's   the   harm?"    she    asked, 

breathless  with  the  shaking  and  laughing  still 

more.     "  You  are  just  as  much  a  De  Latour 

of  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir,  monsieur,  as 

146 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

you  ever  were.  I  thought  that  was  the  great 
point." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  flung  her  into  a  chair 
as  if  she  had  been  a  parcel,  and  strode  up  and 
down  the  room. 

"  My  dear  Victor,"  said  Louis  soothingly, 
"  compose  yourself.  Have  confidence  in  me, 
your  uncle,  and  believe  that  everything  that 
I  shall  do  will  be  with  an  eye  for  your 
advantage.  If  you  should  require  me  to 
give  back  the  three  hundred  thousand 

"  Oh,  yes,  give  them  back,  indeed !  "  bawled 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  going  and  standing  be- 
fore Louis.  "  You  can  afford  to  give  them 
back  because  you  practically  have  the  control 
of  all  my  property." 

"  I  sha'n't  interfere  with  that,  my  boy," 
replied  Louis.  "  I  think  you  know  how  to 
manage  your  money  matters  very  much  better 
than  I  do.  It  is  only  your  personal  conduct 
in  which  I  shall  concern  myself,  and,  by  the 
way,  I  think  it  would  be  best  for  you  to  dis- 
pense with  Mademoiselle  de  Courcey's  ser- 
vices as  private  secretary." 
147 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  What  have  you  to  do  with  my  private 
secretary?  " 

"  Everything.  I  am  your  legal  guardian, 
and  I  cannot  allow  you  to  continue  what  I 
thought  from  the  first  a  very  indiscreet  ar- 
rangement. So,  mademoiselle,  I  shall  be 
pleased  myself  to  engage  your  services  at  the 
same  figure  my  nephew  paid  you,  if  you  will 
accept  the  place." 

"Certainly!"  responded  Julie,  jumping 
up. 

Monsieur  de  Latour's  rage  and  chagrin  at 
this  was  indescribable.  He  ground  his  teeth, 
and  his  scanty  hair  appeared  actually  to  bristle 
with  wrath.  Meanwhile,  Louis  was  smiling 
and  imperturbable,  and  Julie  was  a  picture  of 
innocence. 

"  Only  I  shall  stipulate,"  continued  Louis 
gravely,  "  that  you  are  not  to  do  any  writing 
for  me.  I  can't  take  the  risk." 

"  Sixteen  vats  of  soap  spoiled!  "  interjected 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  throwing  himself  into  a 
chair. 

"  My  dear  Victor,"  said  Louis,  "  would 
you  oblige  me  by  allowing  me  a  few  min- 
148 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

utes'  private  conversation  with  Mademoiselle 
Julie?" 

"  What?  "  screamed  Monsieur  de  Latour. 

"  A  few  minutes'  private  conversation  is 
what  I  ask." 

"  Not  under  any  circumstances." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  was  so  beside  himself 
with  rage  that  he  could  not  keep  still,  but, 
jumping  up  from  his  chair,  bounced  about  the 
room. 

"  Then,  mademoiselle,"  remarked  Louis, 
"  I  must  ask  you  to  step  out  with  me  upon  the 
terrace  for  a  moment." 

"  Mademoiselle,  I  forbid  you  to  go !  " 
cried  Monsieur  de  Latour. 

But  to  this  Julie  paid  no  attention  what- 
ever, and  followed  Louis  through  the  glass 
door  that  opened  on  the  terrace.  Once  out  in 
the  clear  and  brilliant  sunshine,  Louis  whis- 
pered in  her  ear : 

"  Did  you  do  it  on  purpose?  " 

And  Julie  whispered  back: 

"Yes,  yes,  yes!" 

"  And  was  it  because  his  consent  was  neces- 
sary to  your  marriage?  " 
149 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

Julie  nodded  her  head  and  gave  Louis  her 
bewitching  side  glance. 

"  Very  well,  he  shall  remain  my  nephew 
until  he  has  consented  to  our  marriage." 

Julie  bestowed  upon  Louis  another  side 
glance,  a  look  of  overpowering  sweetness 
which  ran  like  wine  through  Louis's  whole 
being.  Monsieur  de  Latour,  within  the  room, 
saw  this  exchange  of  tender  and  vivid  glances, 
and  a  flood  of  light  poured  in  upon  him.  He 
dashed  out  upon  the  terrace,  almost  knocking 
them  over. 

"  Oh,  I  see  how  it  is!  "  he  cried.  "  You 
two  are  in  a  conspiracy  against  me.  You  " — 
pointing  to  Louis — "  want  to  marry  Made- 
moiselle de  Courcey." 

"  Oh,  no,"  replied  Louis,  "  I  want  to  marry 
Mademoiselle  de  Bresac!"  And  taking 
Julie's  hand  he  placed  it  within  his  arm. 

Slowly  the  truth  dawned  upon  Monsieur  de 
Latour.  He  struck  his  forehead. 

"  I  see  it  all,"  he  groaned.  "  It  is  a  trick. 
You  are  Julie  de  Bresac.  Strange  I  never  sus- 
pected it  before.  But  that  old  gadabout,  your 
aunt,  put  you  up  to  it,  no  doubt.  Very  well, 
150 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

all  I  have  to  say  is  that,  under  your  respected 
father's  will,  my  consent  is  necessary  to  your 
marriage,  and  you  won't  get  that  consent  to 
marry  my  nephew." 

"  Your  uncle,  you  mean,"  interposed  Louis. 

"  Very  well,  very  well !  "  cried  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  walking  off,  quivering  with  rage. 
"  You  will  see  how  it  will  turn  out." 

Louis  followed  him. 

"  Now,  my  dear  nephew,"  he  said  in  a  paci- 
fying tone,  "  don't  let  us,  with  guests  in  the 
house",  have  a  family  row — these  things  are 
very  bad  form.  It  has  never  been  the  custom 
of  the  De  Latours  to  do  such  things,  and  if 
you  wish  to  prove  yourself  a  genuine  De  La- 
tour  you  must  follow  the  traditions  of  the 
house.  Now,  it  isn't  necessary  to  say  how 
things  really  stand — I  am  willing  to  let  you 
pose  as  my  uncle,  provided  you  show  me  the 
respect  which  is  due  me.  So  let  us  agree  to 
say  nothing  about  this,  but  I  will  have  no 
interference  between  Mademoiselle  Julie  and 
myself." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  paused  and  reflected 
for  a  whole  minute. 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  Perhaps  you  know,"  he  said,  "  that  the 
Comtesse  de  Beauregard's  consent  is  neces- 
sary, as  well  as  mine,  for  anyone  to  marry 
Julie." 

"  I  believe  so,  but  that  is  very  easily  won. 
Just  let  me  go  on  a  gigantic  lark  and  the  old 
lady  will  consent  at  once." 

"  Yes,  but  suppose  she  should  marry?  She 
might  marry  me,  you  know!  " 

"  That  will  make  our  relationship  still 
more  interesting.  You  would  be  my  nephew 
and  at  the  same  time  you  would  be  my 
uncle." 

"  Don't  talk  nonsense.  What  I  mean  is 
that  I  intend  to  checkmate  you  and  that  head- 
strong girl  yonder." 

"  But  to  marry  Madame  de  Beauregard 
you  would  have  to  lead  a  very  dissipated  life, 
and  then  I  should  be  in  a  position  to  check- 
mate you.  I  can  exert  my  authority  as  your 
uncle,  and  put  a  stop  to  your  wild  career 
on  the  ground  that  you  are  squandering  your 
fortune.  I  can  put  you  on  an  allowance  of  a 
thousand  francs  a  month.  How  would  you 
like  that  ?  ' 

152 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

"  Oh,  it's  all  a  confounded  muddle,"  cried 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  "  but  I  intend  to  block 
your  game,  young  man,  with  Julie,  and  you 
see  if  I  don't!" 

While  this  turmoil  was  taking  place  in  one 
part  of  the  chateau  a  like  one  was  occurring  in 
another  part  of  it.  Just  as  luncheon  was  over 
General  Granier's  card  was  brought  in,  and 
Madame  de  Beauregard  insisted  upon  the  rest 
of  the  party  going  with  her  to  the  orangery. 
There  they  found  General  Granier,  who 
began  to  entertain  them  with  anecdotes  of 
some  of  his  most  notorious  escapades  during 
the  Second  Empire,  varied  with  the  recital 
of  some  startling  indiscretions  about  three 
months  before.  His  stories  were  really  amus- 
ing, and  even  Mademoiselle  Cheri  laughed 
at  them ;  but  Melanie,  much  scandalised, 
maintained  a  shocked  silence,  and  Eugene  de 
Contiac  unconsciously  did  the  same. 

When  General  Granier  had  finished  a  story 
of  having  kissed  a  dowager  duchess  in  mis- 
take for  her  daughter-in-law,  a  story  which 
sent  Madame  de  Beauregard  into  convulsions 
of  mirth,  she  suddenly  looked  around  and 
11  153 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

caught  Eugene  in  the  act  of  handing  a  book 
to  Melanie.  Madame  de  Beauregard  seized 
it  and  read  aloud  the  title,  "  Sermons  and 
Discourses,  by  Bossuet."  From  screams  of 
laughter  the  old  lady  suddenly  flew  into  a 
temper,  and,  giving  Eugene  a  smart  clip  over 
the  head  with  the  book  of  sermons,  she  cried 
wrathfully : 

"  I  will  teach  you  to  be  reading  sermons  in 
good  company!  And  what's  this?  " 

A  sheet  of  paper  fluttered  out,  which  the 
old  lady  caught  deftly  and  read  aloud: 

"DEAREST  MELANIE: 

"Don't  believe  for  one  moment  that  my  heart  or  my 
inclinations  ,  are  in  the  dissipations  which  I  sometimes 
follow.  It  is  all  the  doing  of  my  intolerable  old  aunt 
and  that  old  rip,  General  Granier.  My  darling,  as  soon 
as  my  aunt  is  dead  and  I  can  follow  my  own  inclinations 
you  will  have  no  fault  to  find  with  me.  Even  without 
your  influence,  dearest,  I  would  wish  to  live  a  pious  and 
God-fearing  life.  How  much  more  so  when  you  en- 
courage me  in  those  religious  observances  of  which  I  am 
deprived!  However,  my  old  aunt  can't  live  forever, 
and  when  she  is  gone,  and  we  can  be  married,  rest  assured 
that  I  shall  lead  with  you  a  life  of  prayer  and  piety,  with 
sermons  for  our  only  literature  and  church-going  our  dissipa- 

154 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

tion.      My  aunt  has  not  a  bad  heart,  and  let  us  unite  in 
prayer,  dear  one,  that  she  may  mend  her  ways. 
"Devotedly  yours, 

««  EUGENE  DE  CONTIAC." 

This  was  a  letter  calculated  to  exasperate 
a  much  milder  person  than  Madame  de  Beau- 
regard,  and  the  old  lady,  although  in  general 
good-tempered,  as  most  old  reprobates  are, 
was  kindled  into  wrath.  She  sat  up,  whirled 
around  in  her  chair,  rose,  and  actually  danced 
with  rage. 

"  So  you  are  planning  to  be  pious  when  I 
am  dead  and  buried!  "  she  shrieked,  shaking 
the  unlucky  letter  in  poor  Eugene's  pallid 
face.  "  Very  well,  then,  you  and  your  saintly 
friend  here  can  be  pious  on  nothing  at  all. 
You  and  this  sanctimonious  minx  will  unite  in 
prayer  for  me !  Just  let  me  catch  you  at  it — 
that's  all  I  ask !  Oh,  if  I  had  but  a  man  in  my 
family,  he  should  have  every  franc  I  pos- 
sess! Monsieur  Bertoux,"  she  cried,  turning 
to  the  silent  advocate,  who  saw  a  good  fee 
staring  him  in  the  face  for  making  another 
will  for  Madame  de  Beauregard,  "  I  desire 
you  this  minute  to  make  another  will  for  me !  " 
155 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

At  this  Monsieur  Bertoux  quietly  took  out 
some  sheets  of  legal-looking  paper. 

"  Here,  madame,"  he  said  resignedly,  "  I 
always  keep  myself  prepared,  and  I  knew 
when  I  arrived  here  yesterday  and  saw  the 
situation  of  affairs  that  I  should  be  called 
upon  to  make  a  will  for  you  before  the 
week  was  out.  Will  you,  as  usual,  when 
you  cut  Monsieur  de  Contiac  off,  give  your 
property  to  found  a  hospital  for  cats  and 
dogs?" 

"  Yes,"  answered  Madame  de  Beauregard 
promptly,  "  except  one  hundred  thousand 
francs  to  General  Granier,  as  the  last  man 
with  red  blood  in  him  who  is  left  alive  in 
France.  He  deserves  a  legacy  and  he  shall 
have  it,  for  knowing  how  to  enjoy  himself  as 
a  man  should." 

General  Granier  bowed  to  the  ground  and 
said  gallantly: 

"  I  hope,  madame,  that  I  shall  never  come 
into  the  possession  of  that  legacy.  I  should 
be  far  more  pleased  if  you  would  consider  the 
proposition  which  I  have  made  to  you  at  in- 
tervals for  the  last  forty  years."  Here  the 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

general  put  his  hand  to  his  heart  and  winked 
sentimentally  at  Madame  de  Beauregard. 

"  Marry  you,  you  mean?  "  cried  Madame 
de  Beauregard.  "  Well,  I  have  been  consid- 
ering it  for  forty  years,  as  you  say.  But  mean- 
while I  intend  to  punish  my  nephew — not  that 
he  appears  to  have  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  him 
— so,  Monsieur  Bertoux,  will  you  please  to 
come  into  the  grand  saloon  with  me,  and  we 
will  arrange  this  matter.  And  I  beg  to  in- 
form you,  mademoiselle,"  she  added  to  the 
shrinking  Melanie,  "  that  you  may  marry  my 
nephew  any  time  you  like,  and  you  will  get  a 
pious  husband — and  I  could  not  desire  you 
any  worse  punishment,  for  pious  husbands  are 
a  terrible  bore.  I  had  one  myself  and  I  don't 
propose  to  have  another  of  that  sort." 

Madame  de  Beauregard  marched  off  to  the 
saloon,  escorted  by  Monsieur  Bertoux  and 
General  Granier.  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  Me- 
lanie, and  Eugene  remained  in  the  orangery. 
Eugene,  like  most  men  who  have  just  lost  a 
half  million  francs,  looked  a  little  frightened. 
Not  so  Melanie.  Extending  her  hand  to  him, 
she  said  with  a  kind  of  timid  boldness : 
'157 


THE    CHATEAU   OF   MONTPLAISIR 

"  I  care  nothing  for  the  fortune  you  have 
lost.  It  is  you  that  I  love,  and  when  I  feel 
that  you  have  perhaps  secured  your  eternal 
salvation  by  giving  up  that  money,  it  is  in  my 
heart  to  render  thanks  for  losing  it." 

Eugene  was  scarcely  then  equal  to  render- 
ing thanks  for  the  loss  of  a  half  million  francs, 
but  he  was  sincerely  in  love  with  Melanie,  and 
her  disinterested  affection  touched  him  deeply. 
And  he  could  tell  her  with  perfect  truth,  as  he 
did,  that  any  loss  of  money  was  trifling  so  long 
as  he  retained  her  love. 

Mademoiselle  Cheri,  who  was  the  most  in- 
dulgent person  in  the  world  to  lovers  and  chil- 
dren, considerately  left  the  orangery  and  was 
walking  up  and  down  the  terrace,  leaving  Eu- 
gene and  Melanie  practically  alone  under  the 
green  shade  of  the  orange  trees.  The  two 
stood  hand  in  hand  and  were  forgetful  of  all 
the  world  but  themselves.  It  seemed  to  them 
but  a  few  minutes  that  they  were  alone  to- 
gether, while  it  was  really  a  half-hour. 

Their  Elysian  dream  was  rudely  inter- 
rupted by  Monsieur  de  Latour  bouncing  in 
upon  them.  Monsieur  de  Latour  had  been 
158 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

very  much  tried  that  day,  and  this  last  straw 
had  brought  his  wrath  to  the  boiling  pitch. 
So  he  bawled  at  the  two  young  culprits : 

"  Well,  I  have  just  seen  Madame  de  Beau- 
regard,  and  she  is  having  another  will  made 
as  fast  as  Monsieur  Bertoux  can  write  it,  and 
so  you  have  lost  between  you  by  your  folly 
five  hundred  thousand  francs  which  you  could 
have  easily  retained."  And  then  addressing 
Eugene :  "  What  do  a  few  escapades  and  a 
little  dissipation  matter  with  half  a  million 
francs  to  be  gained  by  it?  But  no,  you  want 
to  thank  God  that  you  are  better  than  other 
men,  and  you  have  been  rightly  served  by 
Madame  de  Beauregard.  All  I  have  to  say 
is  that  you  are  to  give  up  immediately  any 
idea  you  may  have  of  marrying  my  niece. 
Half  an  hour  ago  you  were  a  very  desirable 
match — now  you  are  not  a  match  in  a  mar- 
riageable sense  at  all.  Melanie,  let  go  of  his 
hand!" 

For  as  even  a  dove  strives  to  defend  her 
nest,  Melanie  only  held  on  the  more  to 
Eugene's  hand. 

"  Would  you  have  me  give  him  up  because 
159 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

he  strives  to  be  good  and  pleases  me  there- 
by? "  she  asked,  trembling. 

"  I  certainly  should!  "  roared  Monsieur  de 
Latour. 

Eugene,  not  to  be  less  courageous  than  Me- 
lanie,  replied  firmly: 

"  Mademoiselle,  although  I  cannot  ask  you 
now  to  share  my  poverty,  rest  assured  that  I 
am  yours  forever." 

"  Ah,  Eugene,"  said  Melanie  timidly, 
"  perhaps  by  waiting —  My  uncle  cannot 
really  mean  to  separate  us,  knowing  how  much 
we  love  each  other." 

"  But  I  shall  separate  you  I  "  shouted  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour,  "  and  you  will  see,  young 
man,  whether  I  do  or  not." 

At  this  Louis's  voice  was  heard  over  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour's  shoulder. 

"  My  dear  nephew,"  he  said,  "  what  kind 
of  language  is  this  that  you  are  using?  I  am 
simply  shocked  at  you.  Would  you  part  two 
young  hearts  that  beat  only  for  each  other?  " 

"  Certainly  I  would,"  angrily  responded 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  wheeling  around  on 
Louis. 

1 60 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

"  Luckily,"  remarked  Louis  coolly,  "  it  is 
not  in  your  power.  Under  the  articles  of  my 
adoption  of  you  as  a  nephew  you  cannot  do 
anything  of  this  character  without  my  consent, 
and  I  don't  intend  to  allow  you  to  separate 
Mademoiselle  Melanie  and  Monsieur  de  Con- 
tiac."  And  then  he  briefly  explained  that  he 
had  adopted  Monsieur  de  Latour  instead  of 
Monsieur  de  Latour  adopting  him.  Turning 
to  Monsieur  de  Latour,  Louis  continued: 
"  The  fact  is,  Victor,  you  have  no  experience 
with  the  master  passion.  The  love  of  two 
young  hearts  cannot  be  treated  like  the  boil- 
ing soap  in  a  couple  of  vats.  You  are  dealing 
with  an  unknown  quantity  when  you  try  to 
control  the  emotions  of  the  soul.  It  is  for- 
tunate that  you  are  enough  under  my  authority 
to  prevent  you  from  interfering  either  with 
Mademoiselle  Melanie's  love  affair  or  with 
the  tender  attachment  which  I  feel  for  Made- 
moiselle Julie  and  which  she  does  me  the 
honour  to  accept." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say,  you  upstart — ?  " 
thundered  Monsieur  de  Latour. 

"  Come,  come,  Victor,  that  kind  of  Ian- 
III 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

guage  is  totally  unsuited  to  our  relationship. 
Remember,  you  are  my  nephew." 

"  The  devil  I  am  \  It's  the  most  arrant 
nonsense  I  ever  heard  in  my  life." 

"  Will  you  go  and  ask  Monsieur  Bertoux 
what  he  thinks  of  it?  " 

"  Oh,  I  know  it's  all  legal,  but  it's  simply 
maddening!  However" — addressing  Mela- 
nie  and  Eugene  in  a  menacing  manner — 
"  don't  you  two  young  hypocrites  take  this 
gentleman  too  seriously  about  this  adoption 
business.  First  let  us  see  how  it  will  work." 

"  I,"  said  Louis,  with  much  dignity,  "  ad- 
vise you,  mademoiselle,  and  you,  Monsieur  de 
Contiac,  to  take  it  with  the  utmost  serious- 
ness, as  I  mean  to  enforce  all  the  rights  of  my 
position.  And  among  other  things,  I  apolo- 
gise for  the  behaviour  of  my  nephew.  You 
are  our  joint  guests,  and  I  beg  you  will  forget 
everything  that  has  been  said.  My  nephew 
has  not  yet  learned  the  lesson  of  self-control, 
but  I  hope  to  teach  it  to  him.  We  shall  all 
have  until  five  o'clock  to  compose  ourselves, 
and  by  that  time  I  hope  my  nephew  will  have 
arrived  at  a  better  frame  of  mind.  Come. 
162 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

Victor,"  and  with  that  he  seized  Monsieur  de 
Latour  by  the  arm  and  dragged  him  off,  splut- 
tering : 

"  It's  maddening,  simply  maddening!  " 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  shaking  himself  free, 
retired  to  his  own  room  to  ponder  over  the 
topsy-turvy  condition  of  affairs.  The  more 
he  pondered  the  more  puzzling  the  situation 
seemed  to  him.  Julie,  he  realised,  was  out  of 
his  reach,  and  the  vision  of  a  young  and  pretty 
girl  as  his  partner  for  the  rest  of  his  life 
seemed  less  attractive  when  he  reflected  upon 
the  complications  that  Julie's  youth  and  inex- 
perience had  brought  upon  him.  His  associa- 
tion with  Madame  de  Beauregard,  and  with 
the  persons  of  high-sounding  names  to  whom 
she  had  introduced  him,  including  even  the 
semi-royal  duke  during  that  alarming  experi- 
ence in  the  autocar,  had  fostered  extremely 
his  natural  taste  for  aristocratic  society,  and 
it  really  seemed  to  him  as  if  he  were  throwing 
himself  away  if  he  should  marry  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri. 

Just  at  that  moment  he  glanced  out  of  his 
window  and  saw  a   superb  carriage  with  a 
163 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

ducal  crest  upon  it  turning  into  the  court-yard, 
and  from  it  descended  the  semi-royal  duke. 
Madame  de  Beauregard  appeared  in  person 
on  the  terrace  to  greet  her  visitor.  He  was  a 
portly,  red-faced  old  gentleman,  apparently 
of  the  same  vintage  as  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard herself. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  watching  the  scene 
from  his  window,  felt  his  chest  swell  at  the 
thought  of  entertaining  such  distinguished 
guests.  It  is  true  that  the  duke  had  been 
upon  the  autocar  expedition,  but  Monsieur  de 
Latour  had  been  so  frightened  on  that  occa- 
sion as  they  whizzed  and  banged  along  that 
he  really  remembered  very  little  about  the 
duke. 

The  conversation  of  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard and  the  duke  floated  up  to  Monsieur  de 
Latour's  window,  and  he  could  not  forbear 
listening  to  the  clear,  gay  voices  on  the  terrace. 

Madame  de  Beauregard,  who  treated 
dukes  and  costermongers  alike,  received  this 
particular  duke  with  great  familiarity,  and 
began  to  pour  out  to  him  the  story  of  her 
grievances  against  Eugene  de  Contiac  and 
164 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

modern  men  in  general,  at  which  the  duke 
chuckled  in  a  semi-royal  way. 

"  Here,"  cried  Madame  de  Beauregard, 
snapping  her  bright  old  eyes,  "  I  am  the  guest 
of  Monsieur  de  Latour,  a  soap-boiling  man, 
but  I  like  him.  There  is  not  half  as  much  dif- 
ference as  the  world  thinks  between  you  peo- 
ple, with  sixteen  quarterings,  and  a  soap- 
boiler after  he  is  washed  and  combed  and  well 
dressed.  And  this  old  soap-boiler  has  some 
spirit  in  him — I  suppose  he  might  be  consid- 
ered quite  a  desperate  character  in  these  milk- 
and-water  days.  But  he  isn't  a  patch  on  you, 
my  dear  duke,  for  example,  nor  on  General 
Granier,  and  when  you  are  dead  there  will  be 
no  more  men  left  alive." 

The  semi-royal  duke  grinned,  and  re- 
marked that  he  had  no  intention  of  dying  yet 
awhile. 

"  Nor  have  I !  "  cried  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard. "  I  expect  to  spend  the  season  of  1940 
at  Dinard.  Do  you  remember,  my  dear 
duke,  the  season  of  1860  at  Deauville?  Oh, 
they  were  days  then  when  one  lived!  We 
had  no  rheumatism,  we  had  all  our  own  teeth, 
165 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

and  we  could  go  the  pace  by  night  as  well  as 
by  day." 

"  My  dear  madame,"  replied  the  duke, 
who  really  had  quite  a  gentlemanly  air  when 
he  chose,  "  you  are  to-day  as  young  in  feel- 
ings, in  energy  and  in  looks  as  you  were  in 
1860." 

"  Oh,  you  old  rogue !  "  cried  Madame  de 
Beauregard,  playfully  prodding  the  duke  with 
her  fan,  "  how  can  you  tell  such  taradiddles? 
Well,  I  can't  say  that  you  are  as  young  as  you 
were  in  1 860,  but  I  will  say  that  you  have  more 
life  in  you  than  ten  young  men  of  to-day." 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  watching  and  listen- 
ing from  his  bedroom  window,  turned  pale. 
The  idea  of  such  language  and  such  prodding 
applied  to  any  man  with  a  ducal  title  was  bad 
enough,  but  to  a  duke  who  figured  in  the  Al- 
manach  de  Gotha ! 

"  There  is  something  in  blood,  after  all," 
thought  Monsieur  de  Latour,  watching  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard's  ease  and  sprightliness; 
"  but  I  believe  that  woman  would  chuck  an 
archbishop  under  the  chin,  and  tweak  a  car- 
dinal's ear,  if  she  wanted  to." 
1 66 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MIS-TAKE 

The  duke,  however,  who  had  known  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard  for  fifty  years,  settled 
himself  quite  comfortably  to  hear  the  present 
generation  abused  and  his  own  lauded. 

"  The  fact  is,  madame,"  he  said,  "  the 
young  people  of  the  present  day  are  too  cor- 
rect by  half." 

"  Quite  right  you  are,"  replied  Madame 
de  Beauregard  with  emphasis.  "  Now,  there 
is  my  nephew,  Eugene  de  Contiac.  You  know 
my  troubles  with  that  young  man.  Well, 
now  he  is  behaving  worse  than  ever.  He  is 
in  love  with  the  soap-boiler's  niece,  who  is  a 
shade  more  pious  than  Eugene.  The  minx 
actually  tells  him  that  she  will  marry  him 
without  a  franc  if  he  continues  pious,  and 
won't  look  at  him  if  he  doesn't,  even  if  I  give 
him  half  a  million  francs.  However,  my 
mind  is  made  up  that  no  godly  young  man 
shall  get  any  of  my  money.  In  1860  there 
weren't  any  pious  young  men,  were  there, 
duke?" 

Madame  de  Beauregard  rattled  on  in  her 
shrill,  high-pitched  voice  for  the  benefit  of 
everybody  within  half  a  mile,  and  Monsieur 
167 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

de  Latour,  who  could  not  help  hearing,  lis- 
tened to  the  names  of  princes,  kings,  and  even 
emperors  handled  in  the  most  familiar  man- 
ner, and  getting  the  general  impression  that  in 
1860  Madame  de  Beauregard  and  the  semi- 
royal  duke  were  engaged  in  one  long,  loud, 
and  uproarious  romp  with  half  the  royal  per- 
sonages in  Europe.  This  was  not  without  its 
effect  on  the  retired  soap-boiler,  and  his  mind 
returned  to  the  half-formed  scheme  of  marry- 
ing the  old  lady  herself.  The  duke  paid  a 
long  visit,  and  by  the  time  he  went  away  the 
purple  dusk  was  falling. 

In  spite  of  the  exciting  occurrences  of  the 
day  the  whole  party  met  at  dinner  with  out- 
ward composure  and  even  gaiety.  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  however,  was  considerably  an- 
noyed by  the  tone  of  paternal  authority  which 
Louis  adopted  toward  him,  and  by  the  gibes 
of  Madame  de  Beauregard  at  the  situation 
which  had  been  reversed. 

"  So  it  was  that  little  baggage  Julie  who 
did  it  all?  "  the  old  lady  chuckled,  indicating 
Julie,  who  sat  at  the  table  and  looked  as  in- 
nocent as  the  cat  that  had  eaten  the  canary. 
168 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
I  don't  believe  she  made  the  mistake  in  the 
name  through  inadvertence.  I  think  that  she 
meant  to  put  you  in  Monsieur  Louis  de  La- 
tour's  power." 

"  But  it  is  preposterous !  "  burst  out  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour. 

"  If  you  think  so,"  replied  Louis  coolly, 
"  try  to  break  the  arrangement  and  see  where 
you  are." 

And  then  everybody  at  the  table  laughed, 
and  Monsieur  de  Latour,  boiling  and  splut- 
tering with  rage,  yet  had  to  control  himself 
and  smile  a  ghastly  smile. 

And  so  the  old  lady  had  countenanced  the 
trick  his  ward  had  played  upon  him !  But  he 
still  held  on  to  the  three  hundred  thousand 
francs,  and  there  would  be  no  question  of 
Julie  and  Louis  marrying  without  it.  It 
seemed  to  Monsieur  de  Latour  that  he  had 
Louis  in  quite  as  much  of  a  hole  as  Louis 
had  him. 

The  visit  of  the  semi-royal  duke  made  a 
great  impression  upon  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
and  he  began  to  consider  seriously  how  he 
12  169 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

might  contrive  to  marry  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard.  He  concluded  that  the  best  and  only 
way  was  to  enter  upon  a  series  of  larks  of  the 
wildest  description,  and  began  to  turn  over  in 
his  mind  plans  to  that  effect. 

As  a  preliminary  Monsieur  de  Latour  in- 
vited the  whole  party,  including  Monsieur 
Bertoux,  to  remain  for  the  rest  of  the  month 
at  the  chateau,  and  in  this  Louis  cordially  con- 
curred, and  they  all  accepted.  Madame  de 
Beauregard  knew  everybody  worth  knowing 
at  Dinard,  and  the  old  lady,  in  spite  of  her 
peculiarities,  was  much  sought  after  as  a  per- 
son of  great  consequence.  The  terrace  of  the 
chateau  was  gay  with  guests  every  afternoon 
at  tea  time.  Mademoiselle  Cheri  and  Mela- 
nie  were  very  well  pleased  at  the  opportunity 
of  seeing  a  phase  of  society  hitherto  un- 
known in  their  secluded  and  provincial  lives, 
but  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  unlike  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  was  not  in  the  least  overawed 
by  it. 

Duchesses,  princesses,  and  countesses,  with 
the  gentlemen  in  their  train,  came  every  after- 
noon, on  Madame  de  Beauregard's  invitation, 
170 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

to  the  terrace,  for  the  old  lady's  idea  of  life 
was  one  long,  unintermittent  frolic.  But 
Monsieur  de  Latour  was  so  dazzled  by  the 
names  of  the  people,  to  say  nothing  of  their 
equipages  and  servants,  that  his  head  was 
completely  turned.  To  be  the  head  of  the 
house  of  De  Latour  had  seemed  to  him,  the 
month  before,  the  acme  of  distinction,  but 
now  he  longed  to  be  the  Comte  de  Beaure- 
gard,  a  title  which  he  would  acquire  if  he 
succeeded  in  marrying  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard. 

The  only  serious  rival  he  had  was  General 
Granier,  with  his  extremely  interesting  leg 
and  his  repertoire  of  escapades,  and  his  large 
assortment  of  delightfully  scandalous  stories. 
Monsieur  de  Latour  could  in  no  way  pretend 
to  rival  him  in  these  particulars.  How  tame 
and  correct  seemed  his  life  at  Brionville !  He 
grew  positively  ashamed  of  its  tameness  and 
correctness,  and  longed  to  prove  that  he  had 
in  him  the  making  of  a  dreadfully  dissipated 
character. 

Moreover,  he  was  checked  at  every  turn 
by  Louis,  who,  with  the  coolest  assumption 
171 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

and  most  ineffable  impudence,  undertook  to 
treat  him  like  a  schoolboy.  It  was  in  vain 
that  he  threatened  Louis  with  the  loss  of  the 
prospective  three  hundred  thousand  francs 
and  the  promise  of  withholding  consent  from 
Louis's  marriage  to  Julie.  Louis  snapped  his 
fingers  at  the  three  hundred  thousand  francs, 
which  he  declared  to  be  a  mere  trifle  com- 
pared with  Julie's  love.  And  as  for  the  ques- 
tion of  Monsieur  de  Latour's  consent — ah, 
there  was  a  complication  indeed !  Louis  had 
studied  carefully  the  legal  aspects  of  his  adop- 
tion of  Monsieur  de  Latour  instead  of  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour's  adoption  of  him,  and  the 
threat  of  attempting  to  enforce  them  and 
compelling  Monsieur  de  Latour  to  appear  in 
court  as  his  adopted  nephew  made  the  old 
gentleman  extremely  uncomfortable.  Louis 
absolutely  undertook  to  cut  down  Monsieur 
de  Latour's  allowance  of  champagne  at  din- 
ner and  cigars  afterward,  tried  to  force  him 
to  go  to  bed  at  ten  o'clock,  and  urged  him  to 
lead  as  correct  a  life  as  that  of  Eugene  de 
Contiac. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  turning  these  things 
172 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

over  in  his  mind,  determined  to  make  a  break 
for  liberty,  not  only  for  his  own  satisfaction 
but  as  a  means  of  recommending  himself  to 
Madame  de  Beauregard,  and  he  thought: 

"  If  I  can  get  that  milksop  of  a  nephew  of 
hers  to  come  with  me  and  make  a  man  of  him, 
the  Comtesse  de  Beauregard  will  be  sure  to 
look  upon  me  with  an  eye  of  favour,  and  per- 
haps, as  he  and  Melanie  are  determined  to  be 
married  some  time  or  other,  I  can  secure  for 
him  the  half-million  francs  which  Madame 
de  Beauregard  promises  to  give  him,  pro- 
vided he  turns  from  good  to  gay.  And  after 
all,  what  Eugene  said  in  that  unlucky  letter 
about  being  as  pious  as  he  pleased  after  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard  is  dead  and  gone  is  per- 
fectly true,  and  Melanie  can  have  that  happi- 
ness to  which  every  woman  aspires — that  of 
reforming  a  man." 

Filled  with  these  notions  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour,  one  morning  about  a  fortnight  after  the 
arrival  of  his  guests  at  the  chateau,  carried  off 
to  his  bedroom  Eugene  de  Contiac,  and,  after 
double-locking  the  door,  seated  himself  for  a 
confidential  interview.  Eugene  himself  had 
173 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

drooped  somewhat  in  spirits,  as  a  man  will 
who  has  just  lost  half  a  million  francs.  He 
had  begun  to  consider  if  there  were  not  some 
means  by  which  he  could  get  his  legacy,  have 
his  allowance  restored,  and  still  keep  on  terms 
with  Melanie,  having  a  fixed  determination  to 
become  pious  again  as  soon  as  he  dared  to  be. 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  surmising  what  was 
passing  in  Eugene's  mind,  unfolded  a  plan  to 
him. 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  said  he,  confidentially, 
"  I  think  you  made  a  mistake  in  throwing 
away  that  half-million  francs.  It  doesn't 
seem  impossible  that  you  should  have  your 
legacy  and  your  allowance  restored  and  marry 
my  niece,  for  she  certainly  fancies  you — God 
knows  why!  Now,  Madame  de  Beauregard 
can't  live  forever." 

"  Oh,  yes,  she  will!"  groaned  Eugene. 
"  She  is  good  for  forty  years  yet.  She  will 
live  to  bury  all  of  us  and  be  skipping  around 
here  until  she  meets  the  fate  of  the  old  lady 
who  died  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  ten 
of  a  fall  from  a  cherry-tree." 

"  Well,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  going 
174 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

closer  and  dropping  his  voice  to  a  mysterious 
whisper,  "  perhaps — ahem! — there  are  cer- 
tain secrets  of  the  heart — it's  rather  embar- 
rassing to  speak  of  these  things — but — it  is 
possible  that  I  may  become  a  candidate  for 
Madame  de  Beauregard's  hand." 

"Marry  her,  do  you  mean?"  cried  Eu- 
gene, falling  back  in  his  chair.  "  Good 
Heavens !  If  I  were  in  your  place  I  would 
rather  marry  a  whole  circus  than  my  aunt. 
Yet  she  is  not  a  bad  woman;  but  for  pure 
friskiness  there  never  was  anything  like 
her." 

"  I  agree  with  you  perfectly,  but  I  am  a 
little  frisky  myself.  Now,  I  have  a  proposi- 
tion to  make  to  you.  Suppose  you  and  I  go 
to  Paris  for  a  week  with  the  express  purpose 
of  having  a  little  lark  of  the  sort  Madame  de 
Beauregard  would  like.  I  believe  it  would 
certainly  end  in  her  restoring  your  legacy  and 
allowance,  and  might — ahem ! — incline  her 
favourably  to  listen  to  the  proposition  which  I 
am  contemplating  making  her.  If  only  Gen- 
eral Granier,  with  that  infernal  leg  of  his, 
were  out  of  the  way!  But  she  seems  never 
175 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

tired  of  listening  to  stories  of  what  he  can  do 
with  that  leg — shoot  rabbits,  play  cards,  and 
actually  play  the  piano  with  it.  And  he 
eighty  years  of  age  if  he  is  a  day !  That  man 
and  Madame  de  Beauregard  have  found  the 
fountain  of  eternal  youth  and  friskiness." 

"  But  Melanie?  "  asked  Eugene  anxiously. 
"  She  is  devoted  to  me  now;  but  if  I  should 
spend  such  a  week  in  Paris  as  you  desire  I 
am  sure  she  would  never  speak  to  me." 

"  Oh,  yes,  she  would !  She  would  have  the 
pleasure  of  reforming  you  again,  and  that  is 
a  joy  which  a  woman  cannot  repeat  too  often. 
No,  my  dear  fellow,  don't  think  that  for  a 
moment.  Go  down  on  your  knees  to  Me- 
lanie, tell  her  you  are  sorry  for  what  you  have 
done,  then — get  up  and  do  it  again.  That's 
what  women  all  like." 

There  was  something  enticing  to  Eugene  in 
all  this,  and  after  an  hour's  urgent  represen- 
tation he  finally  consented  to  make  the  visit  to 
Paris  with  Monsieur  de  Latour.  That  night 
at  dinner  Monsieur  de  Latour  announced 
their  intended  excursion. 

"  And  I  promise  you,"  he  said  significantly 
176 


JULIE'S   LITTLE   MISTAKE 

to  Madame  de  Beauregard,  who  sat  at  his 
right,  "  that  when  we  come  back  we  shall 
have  some  tales  to  tell !  " 

"  I  do  hope  so,"  piously  ejaculated  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard. 


177 


VII 

A  MERRY  WEEK  IN  PARIS 

'NE  week  from  the  day  that  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  and  Eugene 
left  for  Paris  they  were  sitting 
in  Monsieur  de  Latour's  study 
in  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir,  absolute 
wrecks  of  their  former  selves.  Monsieur  de 
Latour  was  the  colour  of  a  mustard  plaster,  his 
eyes  were  bloodshot,  his  hand  trembled,  and 
as  he  lay  back  in  an  arm-chair  he  seemed 
scarcely  able  to  raise  his  head.  Eugene,  sit- 
ting at  the  other  end  of  the  room,  leaned  for- 
ward, supporting  his  aching  head  upon  his 
shaking  hands.  At  intervals  a  long,  shudder- 
ing sigh  burst  from  him,  which  was  answered 
by  a  loud  groan  from  Monsieur  de  Latour. 
Presently  Eugene  spoke  in  a  scarcely  audible 
voice : 

178 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

"  I  wouldn't  spend  such  another  week  as 
the  last  for  half  a  million  francs." 

"  And  I,"  groaned  Monsieur  de  Latour 
from  the  other  end  of  the  room,  "  would  give 
half  a  million  francs  for  another  head  and  a 
new  stomach." 

There  was  a  silence  after  this,  broken  by 
Eugene  saying  in  a  sepulchral  voice,  "  Oh, 
my  head!  " 

To  which  Monsieur  de  Latour  responded 
in  tones  of  agony,  "  Oh,  my  head!  " 

Then  there  was  a  longer  silence  still. 

"  Do  you  know  how  much  it  cost?  "  asked 
Eugene. 

"  No,"  replied  Monsieur  de  Latour.  "  All 
I  know  is  I  used  up  all  the  cheques  in  my 
cheque-book,  and  when  I  got  to  the  station 
here  I  didn't  have  enough  money  to  pay  the 
cabman  to  bring  us  to  the  chateau."  And  he 
groaned  dismally. 

While  they  sat  in  gloom  and  miserable  si- 
lence the  door  suddenly  flew  open  and  in 
bounced  Madame  de  Beauregard,  carrying  a 
newspaper  in  her  hand. 

"  Oh,  you  two  darlings!  "  she  cried,  blow- 
179 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

ing  a  kiss  to  Monsieur  de  Latour  and  throw- 
ing her  arm  around  Eugene's  aching  head, 
"how  delightfully  you  have  been  behaving! 
It  has  been  in  the  newspapers  for  three  days 
past.  I  was  so  pleased  that  I  made  Monsieur 
Bertoux  not  only  make  me  a  new  will,  but 
directed  him  to  pay  to  my  nephew's  credit  in 
bank  one-half  of  his  legacy,  that  is,  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  francs,  in  cash." 

Eugene  felt  feebly  in  his  pocket. 

"  Yes,  I  believe  I  did  get  a  letter  or  some- 
thing from  Monsieur  Bertoux,  but  I  was  not 
in  a  state  to  understand  it  exactly.  Here  it 
is." 

He  took  the  letter  out  and  read  it — a  brief 
communication  saying  that  Monsieur  Bertoux 
had,  by  the  direction  of  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard,  placed  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
francs  to  Eugene's  credit  at  his  Paris  bank- 
er's. 

"  And  now,"  cried  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard,  shaking  him,  "  aren't  you  perfectly  de- 
lighted? " 

Eugene  shook  his  head  dolefully. 

"  If  you  had  my  head!  "  he  replied. 
1 80 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

Madame  de  Beauregard  shrieked  with 
laughter  at  this. 

"  And  how  about  your  head,  monsieur?  " 
she  asked  of  Monsieur  de  Latour. 

"  It  feels  about  the  size  of  the  Eiffel 
Tower,"  gasped  Monsieur  de  Latour. 

This  delighted  the  old  lady  still  more. 

"  Now,"  she  cried,  "  I  will  tell  you  what 
the  newspapers  say.  It  is  all  about  your  visit 
to  the  races.  They  say  that  the  two  of  you 
went  out,  escorting  nineteen  ballet-girls,  and 
before  you  left  you  had  paid  for  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  bottles  of  champagne,  and 
that  two  of  the  young  ladies — he !  he ! — gave 
you,  monsieur,  a  footbath  in  champagne — 
ha!  ha!" 

"  They  took  off  my  shoes  and  stockings, 
and  before  they  got  through  I  was  wet  to  my 
shirt  with  champagne." 

"  Why,  that  almost  makes  me  fall  in  love 
with  you!  And  then  the  police  came 
along " 

"  I  wish  they  had  come  before,"  murmured 
Eugene  sadly. 

" — and  tried  to  arrest  you,  and  the  ballet- 
181 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

girls  smuggled  you  and  Eugene  out  of  the 
way,  and  you  jumped  into  a  twenty-thousand- 
franc  racing  machine " 

"  It  cost  me  thirty  thousand  francs  before 
I  got  through  with  it,"  interjected  Monsieur 
de  Latour. 

" — and  ran  it  into  a  ditch,  and  smashed  the 
machine  all  to  bits,  and  you  fought  the  po- 
lice  " 

"Look  at  the  back  of  my  neck!"  said 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  displaying  a  number  of 
bumps  and  bruises. 

" — and  got  yourselves  arrested,  and  by 
some  sort  of  hocus-pocus " 

"  It  was  ten  thousand  francs'  worth  of 
hocus-pocus,"  said  Eugene  in  a  tired  voice. 

" — managed  to  go  free.  And  you  sat  up 
all  the  next  night  playing  cards  and  losing 
money " 

"  We  did  that  for  six  nights,"  replied 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  "  and  we  weren't  play- 
ing cards  all  the  time.  I  lost  twelve  thousand 
francs  on  a  bet  that  more  flies  would  alight 
on  my  lump  of  sugar  than  on  another  man's. 
But  we  played  cards,  too." 
182 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN   PARIS 

"  In  short,"  cackled  the  old  lady,  "  you 
must  have  had  a  most  delightful  week." 

This  remark  was  received  in  melancholy 
silence.  After  a  pause  Monsieur  de  Latour 
said  wearily: 

"  It  seems  to  me  about  ten  weeks  since  we 
left  this  place  for  Paris." 

"  And  remember,"  cried  Madame  de 
Beauregard,  chucking  Monsieur  de  Latour 
under  the  chin,  "  that's  the  kind  of  a  life  you 
will  be  expected  to  lead  all  the  time  if  I  con- 
clude to  marry  you." 

At  which  Monsieur  de  Latour  shook  his 
head  in  a  manner  which  did  not  indicate  un- 
mitigated joy  at  the  prospect. 

"And,"  continued  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard merrily,  "  you  have  succeeded  in  making 
General  Granier  insanely  jealous.  He  hasn't 
money  to  go  the  pace  as  you  do — in  fact,  he 
never  had.  He  makes  no  secret  of  his  deter- 
mination to  run  you  out  of  the  field,  because 
Granier,  poor  angel,  really  wants  to  marry  me." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  at  that  moment  would 
have  run  out  of  the  field  without  any  assist- 
ance whatever  from  General  Granier. 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

Madame  de  Beauregard  remained  half  an 
hour  longer  in  the  company  of  her  host  and 
her  nephew,  getting  the  particulars  of  what 
she  called  their  charming  week  in  Paris  out  of 
the  two  unfortunates.  Every  detail  of  agony 
they  gave  delighted  her  more  and  more. 
Their  encounters  with  the  police,  their  sleep- 
less nights  and  exciting  days,  their  expedi- 
tions, their  falls  into  gutters  and  being 
dragged  out  again,  their  encounters  with  cab- 
men and  chauffeurs,  ballet-dancers  and  the 
like,  gave  her  exquisite  pleasure,  and  when 
she  skipped  out  it  was  with  the  assurance  to 
Monsieur  de  Latour  that  she  really  felt  her- 
self falling  in  love  with  him,  and  was  afraid 
to  stay  longer  for  fear  she  should  kiss  him 
against  his  will. 

As  she  left  the  room  a  servant  appeared 
with  a  message  from  Louis,  which  was  de- 
livered with  much  hesitation.  It  was  a  re- 
quest that  Monsieur  de  Latour  should  wait 
upon  him  in  the  saloon. 

"  Go  to  the  devil!  "  was  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour's  response. 

In  a  few  minutes  Louis  appeared,  and  go- 
184 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

ing  up  to  the  great  chair  where  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  as  limp  as  a  rag,  lay,  said  to  him 
in  a  voice  of  stern  reproof: 

"  My  dear  Victor,  your  conduct  in  Paris 
is  known  to  me,  and  I  have  not  language 
strong  enough  to  condemn  it.  What  do  you 
suppose  my  feelings  are,  as  your  uncle,  when 
I  hear  of  these  outrageous  performances, 
dragging  the  name  of  De  Latour  into  the 
newspapers,  and  misconducting  yourself  in 
general?  " 

Monsieur  de  Latour  felt  very  ill  and  dis- 
inclined to  exert  himself,  but  the  tone  of  ad- 
monition on  Louis's  part  roused  the  old  gen- 
tleman to  a  pitch  of  great  anger. 

"  Come,  now,  young  man,"  he  bawled, 
"  you  may  stop  this  tomfoolery.  Whatever  I 
have  done,  I  don't  choose  to  be  corrected  by  a 
youngster  like  yourself." 

"  Remember,"  replied  Louis  in  a  voice  of 
awful  warning,  "  I  am  your  uncle." 

"The  devil  you  are!  Well,  uncle  or  no 
uncle,  I  propose  to  do  as  I  like,  and  if  I  please 
to  have  a  little  lark  in  Paris " 

"  A  little  lark!  "  Louis  threw  his  hands  up. 
13  185 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

" — in  conjunction  with  my  young  friend, 
De  Contiac,  here,  who,  I  must  say,  incited  me 
to  most  of  the  gaieties  in  which  we  indulged, 
I  shall  do  it  without  any  reference  to  you  or 
anybody  else." 

At  this  poor  Eugene  raised  his  pallid  face 
from  his  hands,  in  which  it  had  sunk,  and  said 
in  a  sepulchral  voice : 

"  7  incited  you  to  gaieties?  " 

"  Well,  well,"  answered  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  testily,  "  it  doesn't  make  any  difference 
— we  incited  each  other." 

"  I  wish  I  could  believe  you,"  said  Louis, 
"  but  I  am  sure  that  you  were  chiefly  respon- 
sible. As  a  result  of  your  improper  conduct, 
your  niece,  Mademoiselle  Melanie,  is  in  the 
very  deepest  distress,  chiefly  on  account  of 
Monsieur  de  Contiac's  share  in  your  per- 
formances, and  she  demands  an  interview, 
a  final  one,  with  Monsieur  de  Contiac.  She 
awaits  you,"  continued  Louis,  turning  to  Eu- 
gene, "  in  the  saloon  with  Mademoiselle 
Cheri." 

Eugene  tried  to  rise  from  his  chair,  but 
sank  back  exhausted. 

186 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

"  I  can't  move,"  he  said.  "  I  thought  I 
would  never  reach  the  chateau  alive.  I  be- 
lieve three  days  more  of  the  racket  would 
have  killed  me." 

"  Then,"  promptly  said  Louis,  "  Made- 
moiselle Melanie  and  Mademoiselle  Cheri 
will  no  doubt  come  to  you  here  when  they 
know  the  circumstances." 

At  this  poor  Eugene  absolutely  burst  into 
tears,  while  Louis,  ringing  the  bell,  directed 
the  servant  to  request  Mademoiselle  Cheri 
and  Mademoiselle  Melanie  to  do  him  the 
favour  of  coming  to  Monsieur  de  Latour's 
study.  While  awaiting  them  Louis  improved 
the  occasion  by  lecturing  Monsieur  de  Latour 
on  the  impropriety  of  his  conduct,  a  proceed- 
ing which  lashed  Monsieur  de  Latour  to  fury. 

In  a  few  minutes  Mademoiselle  Cheri  ap- 
peared with  Melanie.  The  poor  girl  was  dis- 
solved in  tears,  and  it  was  a  pitiable  sight  as 
she  sank  into  a  chair  near  Eugene,  both  of 
them  weeping  bitterly.  Between  her  sobs 
Melanie  could  only  say,  "  All  is  over  between 
us — all  is  over  between  us." 

u  But  he  has  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
187 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

sand  francs,  mademoiselle,"  put  in  Louis, 
whose  goodness  of  heart  made  him  wish  to 
befriend  the  unhappy  lovers.  "  Monsieur 
Bertoux,  who  secretly  sympathises  with  you, 
induced  Madame  de  Beauregard  to  let  him 
deposit  the  money  to  your  credit  in  bank. 
The  old  lady  was  so  pleased  with  your  indis- 
cretions, monsieur,  and  so  confident  you 
would  never  reform,  that  she  directed  Mon- 
sieur Bertoux  to  do  it,  so  you  may  reform  and 
have  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
francs  as  well." 

"  He  will  never  reform,"  wailed  Melanie, 
"  and  we  must  part.  O  Eugene,  how  could 
you  be  guilty  of  such  wickedness?  " 

For  answer  Eugene  could  only  sob  and 
point  his  finger  at  Monsieur  de  Latour.  The 
presence  of  Mademoiselle  Cheri  was  pecu- 
liarly unpleasant  to  Monsieur  de  Latour  at 
that  moment.  She  was  entirely  too  outspoken, 
and  she  proceeded  on  the  spot  to  treat  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  to  what  ladies  call  giving  a 
man  a  piece  of  their  minds. 

"  Monsieur,"  she  said  severely,  "  no  one 
can  approve  of  your  conduct  in  Paris.  I 
188 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

thought  I  knew  the  extent  to  which  folly 
would  lead  you,  but  I  never  dreamed  of  any- 
thing like  your  preposterous  behaviour  during 
the  past  week.  You  have  brought  great  dis- 
tress upon  your  niece  and  mortification  upon 
all  your  friends." 

This  was  too  much  for  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour.  It  was  bad  enough  to  be  hectored  over 
by  Louis,  but  by  Seline  Cheri,  a  soap-boiler's 
daughter !  He  struggled  to  his  feet. 

"  Mademoiselle,"  he  replied  in  a  tone  of 
equal  severity,  "  I  think  I  understand  the  ani- 
mus from  which  you  speak.  You  have  per- 
haps observed  that  the  Comtesse  de  Beaure- 
gard  looks  upon  me  with  an  eye  of  favour, 
and  you  probably  disapprove  of  it." 

"  Quite  so,"  answered  Mademoiselle  Cheri 
frankly. 

"Ah!  Perhaps  you  recall  the  time,  ma- 
demoiselle, when  I  was  an  aspirant  for  your 
own  hand." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  "  and 
I  will  say  to  you,  now  that  we  are  both  old 
enough  to  speak  frankly,  that  but  for  the  ob- 
ligation I  felt  to  take  care  of  my  father  in  his 
189 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

declining  years,  I  might  have  married  you, 
Victor  de  Latour.  You  were  then  a  worthy 
and  estimable  citizen,  a  good  man  and  an 
excellent  soap-boiler.  If  you  had  continued 
as  such  the  time  might  have  come  when  both 
of  us,  remembering  our  early  association  and 
feeling  the  need  of  friendship  and  compan- 
ionship in  our  old  age,  would  have  married; 
but  it  is  impossible  now." 

"  Thank  you,  mademoiselle,"  replied 
Monsieur  de  Latour  in  a  rage.  "  The  pain 
of  my  rejection  is  very  much  mitigated  by 
the  fact  that  I  have  not  made  you  an  offer." 

"  I  know  it,"  calmly  answered  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri.  "  We  are  speaking  plainly,  as 
plain  people  like  ourselves  do  speak,  and 
your  fine-gentleman  airs  sit  ridiculously  on 
you,  Victor." 

This  further  enraged  Monsieur  de  Latour 
so  much  that  he  whirled  around  and  plumped 
himself  down  into  a  chair,  almost  turning 
his  back  upon  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  who  re- 
mained placid  though  disapproving. 

A  long  and  painful  silence  ensued,  which 
became  so  intolerable  to  Monsieur  de  Latour 
190 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

that  he  suddenly  jumped  up  and  rushed  out  of 
the  room  and  into  the  saloon.  As  he  opened 
the  door  General  Granier  arose.  Instead  of 
his  usual  gay  and  cordial  greeting,  General 
Granier  bowed  stiffly  and  said: 

"  I  am  calling  upon  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  was  in  no  state  to  re- 
member the  amenities  of  social  life.  He  fell, 
rather  than  sank,  into  a  chair,  and  stretching 
his  legs  out,  ran  his  hands  through  his  already 
rumpled  hair,  and  then,  forgetting  General 
Granier's  presence,  said  to  himself: 

"  My  head  is  very  bad,  and  my  stomach 
is  worse,  but  those  ballet-girls  were  pretty." 

"  You  appear  to  plume  yourself,"  said 
General  Granier  stiffly,  "  upon  your  perform- 
ances in  Paris  last  week.  Let  me  tell  you, 
my  dear  sir,  they  were  not  a  patch  upon  what 
I  used  to  do  in  the  year  '60." 

"Oh,  nonsense!"  answered  Monsieur  de 
Latour.  "  You  never  had  such  a  week  in 
your  life  as  I  have  had." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  impugn  my  word,  mon- 
sieur? "  asked  General  Granier,  advancing 
191 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

and  putting  his  right  hand  into  his  trousers 
pocket,  and  at  the  same  time  lifting  up  his 
right  leg,  which  was  a  habit  of  his. 

"  Come,  now,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
shying  off,  "  I  don't  like  you  to  lift  that  leg 
up  that  way  at  me.  It's  a  gun,  and  I  know 
it,  and  it  might  be  loaded." 

"  I  always  keep  it  loaded,"  snapped  Gen- 
eral Granier,  "  and  if  you  wish  to  know  just 
how  effective  it  is,  observe  that  flower-pot 
across  the  room." 

He  whirled  around  on  his  left  leg,  and 
lifting  his  right  one  at  an  angle  of  forty-five 
degrees,  clicked  the  trigger  in  his  pocket. 
The  next  instant  the  flower-pot  tumbled  over, 
smashed  into  bits. 

"  There,  now,"  cried  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour,  edging  away,  "  I  knew  you  were  going 
to  do  something  of  the  kind.  I  think  you 
ought  to  be  reported  to  the  police  for  carry- 
ing that  thing  loaded  all  the  time,  and  I  am 
not  sure  it  is  not  my  duty  to  report  you." 

General  Granier,  twirling  his  mustache, 
backed  out  of  the  door. 

"  Monsieur  de  Latour,"  he  said,  "  I  don't 
192 


'A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

understand  at  all  your  language  to  me  this 
morning.  I  shall  write  you  and  ask  a  cate- 
gorical explanation.  Good  morning !"  And 
he  disappeared. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  lying  back  in  his 
chair  in  much  agitation,  turned  over  in  his 
mind  the  meaning  of  General  Granier's  re- 
marks. But  while  meditating  a  drowsiness 
overcame  him.  He  had  not  slept  for  a  week, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  his  loud  snores,  which 
resembled  the  trumpeting  of  an  elephant,  re- 
sounded through  the  great  room. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  slept  peacefully.  The 
morning  grew  to  high  noon,  high  noon  to  af- 
ternoon, and  Monsieur  de  Latour  had  just 
begun  to  make  up  the  arrears  of  sleep  he  had 
lost  in  Paris.  He  was  roused  by  a  knock  at 
the  door,  and  a  footman  entered  with  a  note. 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  more  asleep  than  awake, 
drowsily  opened  it,  but  at  the  first  word  he 
sat  bolt  upright  and  became  thoroughly  alert. 
It  was  from  General  Granier,  and  ran  thus : 

'«  MONSIEUR  VICTOR  Louis  DE  LATOUR  : 

"I  demand  an  explanation  of  your  language  to  me  this 
morning,  and  if  the  explanation  is  not  forthcoming  I  shall 

193 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

insist  upon  that  satisfaction  which  one  gentleman  accords 
another.  I  am,  sir,  etc., 

"AucusTE  GRANIER." 

"  Now,  what  the  devil  does  that  mean?  " 
said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  reading  the  note 
over. 

"  It  means,"  cried  Julie's  voice  from  behind 
his  shoulder,  "  that  General  Granier  wants 
you  to  fight  him." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  glanced  up.  Julie 
had  entered  noiselessly,  and  holding  up  her 
dainty  skirts,  was  peering  over  his  shoulder 
and  reading  the  note  in  his  hand. 

"  He  will  be  very  much  disappointed, 
then,"  replied  Monsieur  de  Latour  promptly. 
"  I  haven't  the  slightest  notion  of  fighting 
him  or  anybody  else.  I  am  a  peaceable,  law- 
abiding  citizen,  and  I  don't  propose  to  shed 
the  blood  of  a  fellow-citizen,  or  let  anybody 
shed  mine,  if  I  can  help  it.  So  I  shall  im- 
mediately write  General  Granier." 

"Won't  you  let  me  write  it  for  you?" 
asked   Julie    artlessly,    apparently    in    entire 
unconsciousness   of    the   awful   consequences 
which  the  note  might  involve. 
194 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

"  No !  "  thundered  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
"  you  have  written  enough  notes  for  me.  I 
shall  write  this  myself." 

Julie  ran  and  fetched  pen  and  ink,  put 
them  on  the  table,  and  Monsieur  de  Latour 
drew  his  chair  up  to  it  and  attempted  to  write, 
but  it  was  impossible.  That  week  in  Paris 
had  upset  his  hand  as  much  as  it  had  his  head 
and  his  stomach.  He  could  not  form  a  single 
letter. 

"  There,"  he  cried,  throwing  down  the 
pen,  "  you  will  have  to  write  it  for  me,  but 
be  sure  you  don't  make  any  mistakes." 

"  I  shall  take  the  greatest  care,"  sweetly 
replied  Julie. 

Then  she  wrote,  Monsieur  de  Latour  dic- 
tating slowly : 

"GENERAL  AUGUSTE  GRANIER, 

"  MONSIEUR  : 

"I  have  received  your  letter,  which  I  do  not  compre- 
hend in  the  least ;    but  I  beg  you  will  understand  one 
point  distinctly,  and  it  is  this — that  I  will  not  fight  you, 
and  this  resolution  will  hold  in  any  event.      All  arrange- 
ments between  us  must  conform  to  that  understanding. 
In  this  I  am  acting  according  to  my  conscience.     I  shall  be 
glad  to  hear  from  you  further,  and  meanwhile  I  am,  etc., 
"  VICTOR  Louis  DE  LATOUR." 
195 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  Now,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour  to  Julie, 
"  make  me  a  copy  of  that  document  and  be 
very  exact." 

"  I  will,"  responded  Julie  with  her  usual 
promptness. 

And  with  many  nibblings  at  the  end  of  her 
pen,  crossings  out  and  interlineations,  she 
finally  succeeded  in  producing  two  fair  copies 
of  the  letter  exactly  alike. 

"  And  now  let  me  read  it,"  said  Monsieur 
de  Latour. 

His  vision  was  blurred,  however,  and  his 
head  muddled  by  the  events  of  the  past  week 
in  Paris,  and  the  letter  appeared  to  him  ex- 
actly what  he  desired. 

"  Very  well,"  he  said  with  an  accent  of 
relief,  "you  may  send  it  off,  and  I  am  going 
to  bed.  It  is  three  o'clock,  and  I  don't  wish 
to  be  disturbed  until  ten  o'clock  to-morrow 
morning." 

Before  retiring  to  his  room,  however,  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  had  Julie  address  and  seal 
the  letter  to  General  Granier,  and  gave  it  him- 
self to  the  footman.  Ten  minutes  afterward 
he  was  snoring  peacefully  in  his  bedroom, 
196 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

every  shade  drawn,  the  room  as  dark  as  night, 
and  he,  as  he  said,  with  the  arrears  of  six  sleep- 
less nights  to  make  up. 

In  another  room  in  the  chateau  was  poor 
Eugene  de  Contiac,  but  there  was  no  sleep 
for  him.  In  addition  to  his  mental  perturba- 
tion, be  became  violently  ill,  and  had  to  pay 
dearly  for  the  champagne  and  cigars  of  the 
week  in  Paris.  Louis  de  Latour,  with  old 
Suzette  to  assist  him,  stood  by  and  adminis- 
tered well-known  remedies,  consoling  and 
encouraging  the  unfortunate  Eugene.  At  in- 
tervals of  an  hour  or  two  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard  would  flounce  in,  cackling  with  rapture, 
and  declare  to  Eugene  that  his  physical  con- 
dition showed  that  he  had  spent  exactly  such 
a  week  in  Paris  as  a  man  should  spend. 

Eugene  kept  old  Suzette  trotting  to  Me- 
lanie's  room,  to  ask  how  the  dear  girl  stood 
the  recent  developments  in  his  conduct,  and 
after  every  inquiry  old  Suzette  came  back 
with  a  doleful  tale  of  Mademoiselle  Melanie 
weeping  and  wringing  her  hands  and  declar- 
ing that  she  and  Eugene  must  part  forever. 
197 


THE   CHATEAU   OF   MONTPLAISIR 

At  this  Eugene  wept  copiously,  which  very 
much  increased  his  mental  and  physical 
agony.  There  was  no  sleep  for  him  that 
night.  He  lay  awake,  groaning  and  sighing, 
and  telling  Louis,  as  long  as  he  would  listen, 
that  such  a  week  in  Paris  was  dear  at  any 
price.  Even  if  that  price  were  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  francs. 

The  next  morning  at  nine  o'clock  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  was  still  slumbering  peace- 
fully when  a  tremendous  rap  was  heard  at  his 
door.  He  mumbled  a  sleepy  "  Come  in,"  and 
Louis  entered.  Monsieur  de  Latour  had  not 
adopted  the  modern  fashions  in  men's  attire 
for  the  night,  and  still  clung  to  a  huge  cam- 
bric nightgown  and  a  nightcap  with  a  tassel 
at  the  top  of  it.  It  was  this  figure,  sitting  up 
in  bed,  which  greeted  Louis. 

"  My  dear  Victor,"  said  Louis  sternly, 
"  see  what  further  trouble  you  have  been 
getting  yourself  into !  Here  is  a  letter  which 
I  have  just  taken  the  liberty  of  opening  and 
reading." 

"Opening     and     reading    my     letters!" 
roared  Monsieur  de  Latour. 
198 


A   MERRY   WEEK  IN  PARIS 

"  Certainly.  After  this  I  shall  not  only  in- 
sist upon  reading  such  letters  of  yours  as 
come,  but  those  that  you  write  as  well.  My 
dear  boy,  you  are  not  to  be  trusted — that  is 
the  state  of  the  case." 

Louis,  throwing  open  the  shutters  and  let- 
ting in  the  morning  sun,  handed  the  open 
letter  to  Monsieur  de  Latour  to  read.  But 
again  his  shaking  hand  and  uncertain  vision 
prevented  him,  and  Louis  had  to  read  the 
letter  to  him.  It  was  from  a  representative  of 
General  Granier  and  read  thus: 

" MONSIEUR  VICTOR  Louis  DE  LATOUR: 

"I  am  directed  by  my  friend,  General  Granier,  to  in- 
form you  that  he  has  received  your  letter  of  the  twentieth 
of  August  containing  your  challenge ;  and  I  beg  to  say 
that  I  shall  be  glad  to  meet  any  appointment  that  you 
may  make  with  a  friend  of  yours  to  arrange  the  details  of 
the  meeting.  Believe  me,  sir,  with  sentiments  of  the 
highest  respect,  Very  truly  yours, 

"]EAN  LE  GALLIAN." 

"  But  I  didn't  send  him  any  challenge !  " 
cried  Monsieur  de  Latour.  "  Here  is  an  ex- 
act copy  of  the  note  I  sent  General  Granier." 

He  drew  from  under  his  pillow  the  fair 
199 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

copy  which  Julie  had  made  him  and  handed 
it  to  Louis,  who  read  it  aloud  carefully. 
When  he  came  to  the  part  in  which  Monsieur 
de  Latour  had  instructed  Julie  to  write  "  I 
will  not  fight,"  that  young  person  had  fallen 
into  her  usual  mistake.  One  word  was  left 
out,  only  a  little  word,  but  it  was  "  not,"  and 
it  made  Monsieur  de  Latour  say  "  I  will 
fight  you,  and  this  resolution  will  hold  in  any 
event." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  fell  back  on  his  pil- 
lows. 

"  I  know  what  she  will  say,"  he  said,  with 
the  calmness  of  despair;  "  that  '  it  was  only 
one  word,  and  such  a  little  one !  '  Great 
God!" 

"  There  is  no  way  out  of  it,"  said  Louis 
meditatively,  "  and  besides  that,  as  a  member 
of  the  house  of  De  Latour  you  must  live  up 
to  our  traditions.  You  must  fight." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  remained  silent  for  a 
full  minute. 

"  But  I  sha'n't  fight !  "  he  announced.  "  I 
have  made  up  my  mind  not  to,  and  I  am  not 
easily  changed." 

200 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

"  But  you  must,  my  dear  boy.  As  the  head 
of  the  house  I  must  insist  that  you  shall  do  it." 

"  You  may  insist  all  you  like,  but  I 
sha'n't." 

"  General  Granier,  as  the  challenged  party, 
has  the  privilege  of  selecting  weapons.  I 
think  it  extremely  likely  that  he  will  require 
that  you  will  use  a  weapon  fired  with  the  leg, 
as  he  can  do." 

"  Very  well.  I  can  fire  just  as  well  with 
my  leg  as  I  can  with  my  arm,  but  I  don't  in- 
tend to  fire  at  General  Granier,  nor  to  allow 
him  to  fire  at  me." 

"  Such  language  is  most  unbecoming  the 
name  you  bear,  and  I  wish  to  say  that,  out  of 
regard  for  the  honour  of  our  family,  I  shall 
take  the  matter  in  my  own  hands  and  will 
act  as  your  second  and  arrange  the  details  of 
the  meeting,"  replied  Louis. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  turned  over  in  bed  and 
pulled  the  covers  up  so  that  only  the  top  of 
his  nightcap  was  visible. 

"  Will  you  kindly  draw  the  shade  down," 
he  said,  "  and  leave  me  in  peace?  If  General 
Granier  wants  to  fight  me,  he  will  have  to 
14  201 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

come  into  this  bedroom,  for  I  have  no  inten- 
tion of  leaving  it." 

"  You  do  not  appear  to  appreciate  the  se- 
riousness of  the  situation,"  said  Louis,  "  nor 
the  point  of  honour  involved." 

"  Be  careful  to  shut  the  door  after  you," 
answered  Monsieur  de  Latour,  "  and  don't  let 
them  bother  me  with  any  breakfast.  The 
bottom  of  my  stomach  has  dropped  out  com- 
pletely and  I  can't  eat  anything,  but  I  should 
like  a  little  cognac  and  water  at  ten  o'clock." 

Louis  gazed  at  him  meditatively. 

"  You  might  as  well  lie  here  and  sleep," 
he  said.  "  Your  hand  seems  to  be  pretty 
shaky,  anyhow.  I  am  sorry  the  chances  are 
so  against  you,  not  being  able  to  hold  a 
weapon  steady  nor  to  see  clearly." 

"  That  makes  not  the  least  difference," 
said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  drawing  the  covers 
up  still  higher.  "  I  am  not  going  to  fight. 
Good  morning." 

"  At  least,"  Louis  urged,  "  you  will  have 
to  be  at  the  place  of  meeting.  That  I  shall 
see  to  myself." 

"  You  must  then  provide  a  wheeled  chair," 
202 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

said  Monsieur  de  Latour  coolly,  "  because 
you  will  never  get  me  there  any  other  way — 
likewise  handcuffs  and  leg  irons." 

"  You  will  be  there,"  said  Louis  deter- 
minedly, pulling  down  the  shade  and  closing 
the  door  after  him. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  left  alone  in  silence 
and  darkness,  began  to  revolve  things  in  his 
mind.  He  had  determined  upon  one  thing, 
and  that  was  to  discharge  Julie.  Fascinating 
though  she  was,  that  unfortunate  peculiarity 
of  hers  of  always  leaving  out  one  word — 
small,  it  is  true,  but  vital,  and  always  bring- 
ing about  a  catastrophe — made  her  not  only 
useless  but  exceedingly  dangerous. 

He  had  not  mentioned  to  Louis  the  method 
of  preventing  the  affair  which  had  promptly 
flashed  into  his  mind.  He  would  simply  in- 
form the  police.  And  then,  turning  over  in 
bed,  he  slumbered  peacefully  until  about 
three  o'clock,  when  he  was  again  roused  by 
Louis's  entrance. 

"  It  is  all  settled,"  said  Louis  cheerfully. 
"  The  meeting  will  take  place  to-morrow 
morning,  at  seven  o'clock,  in  the  wood  that 
203 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

skirts  the  field  a  mile  off  by  the  side  of  the 
old  windmill.  And  just  as  I  knew,  General 
Granier  has  selected  as  weapons  a  gun  to  be 
fired  with  the  foot.  Of  course  it  will  be  very 
difficult  for  you,  but  I  am  familiar  with  fire- 
arms, and  I  have  rigged  up  a  contrivance  by 
which  you  can  fire  a  gun  with  your  foot. 
You  might  practise  a  little  this  afternoon,  but 
my  experience  is  that  practice  before  a  duel 
does  no  good,  but  simply  is  a  tax  upon  the 
nerves.  And,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  must  say 
to  you,  my  dear  Victor,  that  I  don't  think 
you  stand  the  least  show  of  hitting  General 
Granier." 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,"  replied  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour.  "  Nothing  would  surprise 
me  more." 

"  And  as  for  General  Granier  hitting  you 
— well,  I  don't  think  that  he  means  to  kill 
you,  but  I  fancy  that  he  means  to  inflict  a 
slight  wound,  perhaps  leaving  a  mark  upon 
your  scalp  or  taking  the  tip  off  your  ear.  But 
one  can  never  tell."  And  here  Louis  shook 
his  head  dolefully. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  shivered  a  little  at 
204 


A   MERRY   WEEK   IN  PARIS 

this;  nevertheless  he  had  his  own  reasons  for 
retaining  his  composure. 

"  At  seven  o'clock,"  he  repeated,  "  in  the 
wood  that  skirts  the  field  a  mile  off  by  the 
side  of  the  old  windmill.  Well,  I  sha'n't  be 
there." 

"  You  will  be  there,"  answered  Louis 
firmly,  "  if  I  have,  as  you  say,  to  provide  a 
rolling  chair  and  leg  irons  and  handcuffs ;  but 
be  there  you  will,  because  you  are  a  De  La- 
tour." 

"  Good  afternoon,"  remarked  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  in  the  same  voice  in  which  he  had 
spoken  in  the  morning.  "  Pull  down  the 
shade  and  shut  the  door  after  you." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  was  able  to  eat  tfie 
wing  of  a  chicken  that  evening,  and  a  little 
boiled  rice,  brought  up  to  him  at  dinner-time. 
Before  retiring  for  the  night  he  had  a  couple 
of  alarm  clocks  placed  in  his  room,  set  so  as 
to  go  off  at  five  o'clock,  for  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  had  a  scheme  in  his  mind  which  he  had 
worked  out  during  those  long  hours  between 
sleeping  and  waking  that  he  had  spent  in  his 
room. 

205 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

He  had  inquired  about  Eugene  de  Contiac 
and  had  been  told  that  the  poor  young  man 
was  in  the  depths  of  physical  and  mental 
agony,  and  unable  to  leave  his  bed. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  having  fixed  upon  his 
plan  of  procedure,  thought  that  he  would 
sleep  soundly,  but  found  himself  mistaken. 


206 


VIII 

MARS   AND    CUPID 

'O  matter  how  fixed  one's  deter- 
mination may  be  not  to  fight, 
nor  how  promptly  one  means 
to  inform  the  police,  in  a  case 
like  Monsieur  de  Latour's  there  are  few  men 
who  can  sleep  upon  such  a  matter.  Monsieur 
de  Latour  was  not  one  of  them,  and  he  lay 
awake  and  pitched  and  tossed  until  five 
o'clock. 

For  the  first  time  a  suspicion  began  to 
steal  upon  him  that  he  was,  perhaps,  better 
off  at  Brionville,  with  his  middle-class  friends, 
than  at  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir,  with  all 
of  the  smart  people  he  had  got  about  him,  and 
with  a  semi-royal  duke  among  the  chateau's 
visitors.  Then  came  the  thought  of  Made- 
moiselle Cheri,  quiet,  middle-aged,  middle- 
207 


THE    CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

class,  like  himself,  and  the  remembrance 
seemed  strangely  attractive.  It  was  chased 
away  by  the  vision  of  the  Comtesse  de  Beau- 
regard  and  her  kittenish  old  age,  of  the  wild 
set  of  untamed  octogenarians  by  which  she  was 
surrounded,  and  the  prospect  of  leading  a  life 
like  that  of  the  last  week  in  Paris;  and  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  fell  into  a  kind  of  panic. 

"  If  I  do  get  killed  by  that  preposterous 
old  scapegrace  with  his  outlandish  leg," 
thought  Monsieur  de  Latour,  "  it  will  be  the 
fault  of  Madame  de  Beauregard.  That 
woman  will  have  been  my  murderess.  How- 
ever, another  week  like  the  last  in  Paris  I  be- 
lieve would  kill  me  just  as  quickly  as  a  bullet 
from  General  Granier's  leg.  Nevertheless, 
he  won't  get  me  to  stand  up  and  be  shot  at — 
he  may  be  sure  of  that." 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  having  dressed  him- 
self noiselessly  in  the  first  flush  of  the  sum- 
mer morning,  crept  downstairs  with  the  quiet- 
ness of  a  burglar  bent  on  murder  and  arson, 
and  let  himself  out  of  a  small  side  door. 

He  struck  out  at  a  smart  gait  for  the  town, 
and  making  straight  for  the  police  station, 
208 


MARS   AND    CUPID 


entered  and  demanded  to  see  the  commissary. 
He  was  informed  that  the  commissary  was  at 
home  asleep,  but  the  policeman  on  duty  very 
civilly  offered  to  do  what  he  could  for  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour.  The  policeman  was  a  pleas- 
ant-faced fellow  of  about  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  entirely  too  young,  so  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  determined,  to  be  trusted  with  such  a 
serious  affair  as  the  present.  He  at  once 
plunged  into  the  matter. 

"  Monsieur,"  he  said,  "  I  wish  to  have  a 
person,  probably  known  to  you,  General 
Granier,  arrested  for  making  threats  against 
my  life."  And  then  he  poured  out  his  story. 

But  either  his  mind  had  not  yet  recovered 
from  the  strain  of  his  week  in  Paris,  or  the 
policeman  was  stupid,  for  after  Monsieur  de 
Latour  had  talked  straight  ahead  for  twenty 
minutes,  rising  and  gesticulating,  the  police- 
man appeared  to  be  thoroughly  confused. 

"  Do  I  understand,  monsieur,"  the  police- 
man asked  very  politely,  "  that  you  demand 
the  arrest  of  General  Granier  without  any 
proof  of  the  charges  you  make  against  him? 
That,  you  must  know,  is  quite  impossible." 
209 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

Monsieur  de  Latour  sat  down  and  mopped 
his  forehead. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say,"  he  asked,  "  that 
General  Granier  is  to  be  allowed  to  murder 
me  in  cold  blood?  " 

"  Not  at  all,  monsieur,  but  I  don't  quite 
understand  the  state  of  affairs.  You  have  sent 
a  challenge,  so  you  tell  me,  to  General 
Granier." 

"  I  never  told  you  any  such  thing,"  bawled 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  jumping  up  from  his 
seat  and  walking  up  and  down  excitedly. 
"  It  is  General  Granier  who  insists  upon 
fighting  me — that  is  to  say,  murdering  me  in 
cold  blood,  as  I  told  you.  Now,  I  don't  like 
the  idea,  and  I  don't  know  any  other  man 
who  does,  and  I  demand  the  assistance  of  the 
law." 

The  policeman  shook  his  head  with  a  puz- 
zled air,  real  or  affected. 

"  If  monsieur  will  return  at  nine  o'clock, 
the  commissary  will  be  here,"  he  said,  "  and 
will  determine  what  to  do." 

"  But  I  am  to  be  shot  at  seven !  "  cried 
Monsieur  de  Latour.  "  That  nephew  of 
210 


MARS   AND    CUPID 


mine — my  uncle,  that  is — "  Here  Monsieur 
de  Latour  struck  his  forehead  in  agony  and 
bewilderment.  "Good  Heavens!  what  a 
world  this  is !  When  I  call  upon  you  to  save 
the  life  of  a  French  citizen  who  is  to  be 
shot  at  seven  you  tell  me  to  wait  till  nine, 
when  the  commissary  will  come.  If  you  were 
not  a  policeman  I  should  call  you  a  great 
fool." 

"  Be  careful,"  replied  the  policeman 
angrily,  "  or  you  will  find  yourself  under 
arrest,  monsieur,  for  abusing  the  police." 

"Will  I?"  shouted  Monsieur  de  Latour 
joyfully.  "  Well,  then,  I  wish  to  tell  you  that 
I  think  you  are  the  worst  lot  of  rapscallions, 
thieves,  rogues,  and  liars  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  Now,  arrest  me  if  you  like." 

The  policeman  eyed  Monsieur  de  Latour 
critically. 

"  I  think,"  he  said,  "  you  are  a  little  off 
your  head." 

"  Then,"  promptly  responded  Monsieur 
de  Latour,  "  arrest  me  as  a  dangerous  luna- 
tic." 

"  I  don't  think  you  are  dangerous  at  all," 
211 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

replied  the  policeman,  with  the  most  exas- 
perating calmness. 

"  I  am,"  pleaded  Monsieur  de  Latour,  go- 
ing up  close  to  the  policeman.  "  I  am  exceed- 
ingly dangerous.  Now,  for  all  you  know, 
at  this  meeting  with  General  Granier  I  may 
be  determined  to  kill  him." 

"What,  with  a  rapier?  You  don't  look 
to  me  as  if  you  would  know  a  rapier  when 
you  saw  it." 

"  No,  no,  no !  We  are  to  fight  with  guns 
fired  with  our  legs." 

"  Come,  now,"  said  the  policeman  sooth- 
ingly, "  you  sit  here  quietly  and  I  will  tele- 
phone to  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir,  where 
you  say  you  belong,  and  get  your  uncle  to 
come  and  fetch  you." 

With  that  the  policeman  rang  up  the  tele- 
phone. 

"  Don't,  don't,  for  Heaven's  sake !  "  cried 
Monsieur  de  Latour.  "  He  would  drag  me 
off  to  the  meeting-place  and  hold  me  up  to  be 
shot  at." 

But  it  was  too  late.  The  hour  being  early, 
the  policeman  had  got  the  chateau  immedi- 
212 


MARS   AND    CUPID 


ately,  and  to  Monsieur  de  Latour's  horror  he 
heard  the  policeman's  end  of  the  conversation, 
something  like  this : 

"  Yes,  he's  here,  talks  very  wild,  but  seems 
to  be  harmless.  .  .  .  You  will  be  here  imme- 
diately? .  .  .  Thanks,  monsieur.  .  .  . 
Shall  I  order  a  rolling-chair?  Certainly; 
there  is  a  place  just  across  the  street.  .  .  . 
Keep  him  here  if  I  can?  .  .  .  Oh,  yes,  he 
seems  to  be  afraid  to  leave  the  station!  .  .  . 
That  is  all?  ...  Good  morning,  monsieur." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  knew  well  enough 
what  all  this  meant.  He  sat  down  and 
sighed,  and  got  up  again  and  groaned. 

"  Your  uncle  will  be  here  in  a  few  min- 
utes," said  the  policeman  encouragingly, 
"  and  says  he  has  telephoned  for  a  wheeled 
chair  to  be  here." 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  in  a  state  of  inde- 
scribable anguish,  determined  to  make  a  last 
effort. 

"  See,"  he  said  to  the  policeman,  "  I  am  a 
most  desperate  character.  I  am  the  gentle- 
man you  probably  read  of  in  the  newspapers 
last  week  in  Paris.  I  am  the  person  who  took 
213 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

the  nineteen  ballet-girls  out  to  the  races,  and 
we  drank  among  us  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  bottles  of  champagne — that  is,  I  paid 
for  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  bottles — 
and  smashed  a  twenty-thousand-franc  auto- 
mobile, and  lost  twelve  thousand  francs  by 
betting  on  flies,  and  did  a  great  many  other 
things  that  I  don't  remember  now.  And  I 
am  determined  to  kill  General  Granier !  " 
Here  Monsieur  de  Latour  assumed  an  air 
of  fierceness  entirely  foreign  to  him,  and 
shouted:  "  I  intend  to  have  General  Granier's 
blood!  Do  you  understand  that?  I  mean 
to  kill  him !  " 

"Of  course!  of  course!  "  replied  the  po- 
liceman soothingly.  "  You  couldn't  do  bet- 
ter. Now,  sit  down  quietly,  and  you  can  kill 
him  a  great  deal  more  comfortably  when 
your  uncle  comes." 

"  But  I  wish  to  kill  him  now,"  shouted 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  thinking  his  ruse  had 
succeeded.  "  I  am  to  meet  him  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  wood  on  the  edge  of  the  field 
near  the  old  windmill." 

With  that  Monsieur  de  Latour  made  a 
214 


MARS   AND    CUPID 


feint  of  going  out  of  the  door,  and  cannoned 
against  another  policeman  coming  in  to  re- 
lieve the  one  at  the  desk.  A  whispered  con- 
versation took  place  between  the  two,  and 
then  Monsieur  de  Latour's  enemy,  as  he  had 
begun  to  regard  this  smart-looking  young 
policeman,  came  out,  and  taking  him  by  the 
arm,  said  to  him : 

"  Now,  there  is  a  wheeled  chair  at  the 
door.  Suppose  you  get  in  it,  and  I  will  wheel 
you  about  the  town  a  little." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  hesitated  for  a  mo- 
ment and  then  joyfully  consented.  General 
Granier  could  not  possibly  attack  him  under 
the  wing  of  a  policeman.  So,  linking  his  arm 
in  that  of  the  policeman,  they  went  out  of  the 
door,  where  they  found  a  wheeled  chair  and 
an  attendant.  The  policeman  whispered  a 
few  words  to  the  attendant,  who  went  away 
laughing,  and  then,  Monsieur  de  Latour  seat- 
ing himself  within  the  wheeled  chair,  the  po- 
liceman, with  a  grin  almost  as  big  as  himself, 
began  to  shove  it  along  the  street. 

"  I  think,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  over 
his  shoulder,  "  it  will  be  just  as  well  for  us  to 
215 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

take  a  little  tour  around  the  town  until  about 
eight  o'clock.  By  that  time  General  Granier 
and  his  second  will  be  tired  of  waiting,  and 
then  it  will  be  quite  safe  for  me  to  go  back 
to  the  Chateau  of  Montplaisir.  You  can  ar- 
range to  have  both  of  us  arrested,  and  I 
should  prefer,  myself,  to  be  incarcerated.  It 
is  now  only  half-past  six  o'clock,  so  we  can 
take  quite  a  pleasant  jaunt.  I  am  certainly 
very  much  obliged  to  you  for  pushing  me, 
and  hope  you  don't  find  me  too  heavy?  " 

"  Not  in  the  least,"  replied  the  policeman, 
to  whom  every  proposition  of  Monsieur  de 
Latour  seemed  agreeable. 

"  And  whatever  you  do,"  added  Monsieur 
de  Latour  impressively,  "  don't  take  me  any- 
where near  that  wood.  You  see,  my  neph- 
ew  " 

"  I  thought  you  said  he  was  your  uncle?  " 

"  Oh,  well,  it  doesn't  make  any  difference 
— he  will  be  there,  and  he  wants  me  to  fight  I 
He  dragged  me  into  this  thing,  and  I  don't 
want  to  be  at  that  place  at  that  hour." 

They  were  then  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
town,  and  Monsieur  de  Latour,  who  was  not 
216 


MARS  AND    CUPID 


very  familiar  with  the  locality,  pleased  him- 
self with  the  notion  that  they  were  going  far- 
ther and  farther  away  from  the  dreaded  spot 
near  the  windmill.  The  policeman,  who  was 
not  very  expert  with  wheeled  chairs,  bumped 
Monsieur  de  Latour  up  and  down  consider- 
ably, and  once  nearly  jolted  him  out. 

"  Look  here,  my  friend,"  said  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  turning  around  and  eyeing  the  fellow, 
who  seemed  to  be  enjoying  the  situation  im- 
mensely, "  I  had  just  as  soon  be  shot  by  Gen- 
eral Granier  as  to  be  thrown  out  of  this  chair 
and  have  my  neck  broken." 

"  You  see,  monsieur,"  replied  the  police- 
man suavely,  "  I  am  not  used  to  playing 
nursemaid  for  elderly  gentlemen,  but  I  am 
doing  the  best  I  can." 

Presently  they  came  to  a  pleasant  country 
road  which  Monsieur  de  Latour  remembered 
to  have  seen  in  his  drives  about  the  place,  but 
what  was  his  horror  suddenly  to  find  loom- 
ing up  before  him  in  the  vivid  light  of  the 
early  morning  a  huge  windmill. 

"  Take  me  away  from  here  I  "  he  cried  to 
the  policeman. 

15  217 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

But  the  policeman,  suddenly  putting  on  a 
spurt,  started  the  chair  off  at  a  dead  run,  jolt- 
ing Monsieur  de  Latour  most  unmercifully 
and  making  it  quite  impossible  for  him  to  get 
out.  His  screams  to  stop  were  unheeded,  and 
in  about  five  minutes'  time  he  found  himself 
in  the  appointed  place  in  the  wood  just  on 
the  edge  of  the  field.  And,  horror  of  horrors  I 
there  was  General  Granier,  with  a  very  fierce- 
looking  gentleman  in  attendance,  another 
gentleman  with  a  sinister  box  which  revealed 
his  profession  as  a  surgeon,  and  Louis  de  La- 
tour.  As  soon  as  Louis  caught  sight  of  the 
wheeled  chair,  which  the  policeman  was  trun- 
dling along  the  road  at  a  furious  rate  of  speed, 
he  rushed  forward  and,  clasping  Monsieur  de 
Latour  in  his  arms,  cried : 

"  I  knew,  my  dear  nephew,  you  would  not 
disgrace  the  name  you  bear,  and,  like  a  true 
De  Latour,  you  would  be  on  the  spot  to  de- 
fend your  honour." 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  panting  and  ex- 
hausted, was  still  more  agitated  by  the 
thought  that  he  had  escaped  a  broken  neck 
at  the  policeman's  hands,  only  to  become  a 
218 


MARS   AND    CUPID 


target  for  General  Granier's  leg.  He  held  on 
firmly,  however,  to  the  sides  of  the  chair,  feel- 
ing himself  safer  there  than  standing  on  his 
feet. 

"  I  told  General  Granier,"  continued 
Louis,  "  that  I  felt  sure  some  accident  had 
occurred  which  would  merely  delay  your  ar- 
rival. I  went  to  your  room  before  six  o'clock 
and  was  puzzled  by  your  disappearance,  but 
soon  I  was  called  up  over  the  telephone  and 
discovered  where  you  were.  I  thought  it  use- 
less to  come  to  the  police  station  after  you, 
knowing  that  nothing  would  detain  you  from 
this  place  at  this  hour." 

Every  man  has  in  him  some  species  of 
courage,  and  Monsieur  de  Latour  had  enough 
moral  courage  to  own  up  to  a  lack  of  physical 
courage. 

"  My  dear  Louis,"  he  said,  recovering 
himself,  "  we  may  as  well  understand  each 
other.  I  never  had  the  slightest  idea  of 
standing  up  to  be  shot  at  by  General  Granier. 
If  he  chooses  to  murder  an  innocent  man  sit- 
ting here  in  a  wheeled  chair,  he  may  do  it — I 
am  at  his  mercy — but  as  for  taking  part  in 
219 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

a  duel,  nothing  was  further  from  my  inten- 
tion, and  I  said  so  all  the  time!  " 

Louis  gazed  at  him  meditatively. 

"  I  think  the  presence  of  this  policeman 
has  something  to  do  with  what  you  say,"  he 
remarked,  "  but  I  believe  we  can  easily  stop 
his  mouth." 

Louis  came  up  to  the  policeman  and  looked 
meaningly  into  his  face,  at  which  the  police- 
man, upon  whose  countenance  a  stupendous 
grin  was  fixed,  said : 

"  I  sha'n't  make  any  trouble,  monsieur;  but 
I  think  it  only  fair  to  tell  you  that  this  is  the 
most  bloodthirsty  old  gentleman  I  ever  came 
across  in  my  life.  He  swore  that  he  would 
have  General  Granier's  blood  and  meant  to 
kill  him  at  all  costs.  I  never  saw  a  man  in 
all  my  days  so  bent  on  murder  as  this  one  is." 

"  You  are  an  infernal " 

Monsieur  de  Latour  was  going  to  say  liar, 
but  it  suddenly  occurred  to  him  that  the  po- 
liceman had  some  justification  for  what  he 
said. 

"  Very  well,"  he  continued,  tucking  his 
feet  under  him,  "  it  makes  no  difference  what 
220 


MARS   AND    CUPID 


I  said — perhaps  I  had  a  motive  in  it.  But  I 
don't  mean  to  fight — I  have  said  that  from 
the  beginning,  and  I  am  not  a  man  to  say  one 
thing  one  day  and  another  the  next." 

At  that  the  fierce-looking  person  whom 
Louis  addressed  as  Major  Le  Gallian,  ad- 
vanced and  said  f reezingly  to  Louis : 

"  Monsieur,  now  that  you  have  your  prin- 
cipal on  the  ground,  is  it  not  as  well  to  begin 
work?" 

"  No,"  promptly  replied  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour.  "  You  may  not  have  heard  what  I  said, 
so  I  will  repeat  it  for  your  benefit.  I  never 
agreed  to  fight  General  Granier;  I  have  no 
grudge  against  him,  and  if  he  has  one  against 
me  I  am  willing  to  apologise.  That  is  final." 

Major  Le  Gallian  stood  at  attention  and 
looked  at  Louis,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  The 
next  move  is  yours." 

General  Granier,  some  distance  off,  was 
making  mysterious  gyrations,  with  his  right 
leg  lifted  at  an  angle  that  would  have  de- 
stroyed the  equilibrium  of  most  men,  but 
which  he  maintained  with  perfect  ease.  The 
sight  of  him  at  that  very  moment  was  most 
221 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

terrifying  to  Monsieur  de  Latour.  Louis, 
with  an  air  of  great  perturbation,  turned 
again  to  Monsieur  de  Latour  and  began  to 
speak,  but  the  latter,  waving  his  hand,  cut 
him  short. 

"  Not  a  word,  not  a  word,  my  dear  boy — 
my  mind  is  made  up  and  has  been  all  the  time." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say,"  asked  Louis 
sternly,  "  that  you  do  not  intend  to  live  up  to 
the  courageous  traditions  of  the  house  of  De 
Latour?" 

"  That  is  precisely  what  I  don't  mean  to 
do,"  promptly  answered  Monsieur  de  Latour. 
"  And  to  be  perfectly  frank  with  you,  I  would 
rather  be  a  live  soap-boiler  than  a  dead  head 
of  the  house  of  De  Latour." 

"  Then  I  shall  be  obliged  to  disown  you  as 
my  nephew." 

"  I  wish  you  would.  It  has  bothered  me 
almost  to  death  ever  since  the  unlucky  mis- 
take was  made  by  that  pretty  little  rogue  in 
petticoats,  Julie  de  Bresac — that  is  if  it  was 
a  mistake  at  all." 

To  have  a  principal  on  the  ground  who 
positively  refuses  to  fight  would  be  an  em- 
222 


MARS   AND    CUPID 


barrassing  situation  for  most  men;  but  Louis, 
with  the  air  of  a  man  who  supposes  that  no 
one  has  heard  what  has  passed,  turned  to 
Major  Le  Gallian. 

"  I  think,"  he  said,  "  that  we  may  as  well 
begin  measuring  off  the  ground." 

This  took  them  off  a  little  distance,  and  if 
Monsieur  de  Latour  had  been  experienced  in 
such  matters  he  would  have  noticed  that  their 
heads  were  uncommonly  close  together  for 
gentlemen  engaged  in  such  grim  work,  and 
that  both  of  them  carefully  avoided  letting 
their  faces  be  seen. 

Monsieur  de  Latour  dived  down  in  his 
pockets,  and,  producing  four  twenty-franc 
pieces,  held  them  up  to  the  policeman  and 
nodded  anxiously.  The  policeman's  grin 
grew  broader,  if  possible,  and  he  nodded 
back,  and  then,  with  a  whirl  that  almost 
pitched  Monsieur  de  Latour  head  foremost 
out  of  the  wheeled  chair,  the  policeman 
started  him  off  down  the  road  at  a  gait  that 
would  have  put  a  professional  sprinter  to  his 
trumps. 

Both  Louis  de  Latour  and  Major  Le  Gal- 
223 


THE    CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

lian  were  keeping  their  backs  to  their  prin- 
cipals, so  that  the  policeman  got  a  good  start 
of  them  before  they  found  that  the  bird  had 
flown.  But  General  Granier  had  seen  the 
whole  proceeding  and,  shouting,  "  Stop  him ! 
stop  him !  "  started  off  in  chase.  However, 
his  right  leg,  which  was  an  excellent  weapon, 
was  by  no  means  sufficient  as  a  motor,  and 
very  much  impeded  his  progress.  And  by 
some  strange  fortuity  neither  Louis  de  La- 
tour  nor  Major  Le  Gallian  could  be  made  to 
heed  the  general's  shouts  and  efforts  to  catch 
the  rapidly  retreating  wheeled  chair.  When 
at  last  General  Granier  succeeded  in  attract- 
ing their  attention,  and  pointed  down  the 
road,  the  wheeled  chair  had  just  turned  the 
corner  of  a  thicket  some  distance  off,  and 
both  Louis  and  Major  Le  Gallian,  looking 
in  an  entirely  opposite  direction,  declared 
they  saw  no  sign  of  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
and  could  not  imagine  in  what  quarter  he 
had  vanished.  This  infuriated  General  Gra- 
nier, who,  shaking  his  fist  in  the  faces  of 
Major  Le  Gallian  and  Louis  de  Latour, 
shrieked : 

224 


MARS  AND    CUPID 


"  You  have  tricked  me  and  played  with 
me.  Was  ever  a  gentleman  so  treated  be- 
fore ?  I  demand  satisfaction  of  both  of  you." 

Louis  and  Major  Le  Gallian  were  pro- 
fuse in  apologies,  and  Louis  undertook  to  ex- 
plain and  apologise  for  Monsieur  de  Latour's 
conduct. 

"  You  see,  my  dear  general,"  he  said, 
"  after  all,  my  nephew  is  but  a  soap-boiler, 
and  how  absurd  it  is  to  expect  a  soap-boiler 
to  have  a  sense  of  noblesse  oblige.  I  apologise 
for  him,  and  if  you  insist  oh  fighting,  I  will 
cheerfully  take  my  nephew's  place." 

"  I  do  insist  on  fighting,"  screamed 
General  Granier,  snapping  his  false  teeth 
viciously. 

But  here  Major  Le  Gallian  interfered. 

"  I  can't  permit  this,"  he  protested.  "  The 
proceedings  this  morning  have  been  so  irregu- 
lar that  it  is  impossible  they  can  be  taken 
seriously,  and  they  cannot  be  carried  further." 

"  At  all  events,"  said  Louis,  with  a  bow 

to  General  Granier,  "  the  gallantry  shown  by 

you,  monsieur,  is  worthy  of  your  name  and 

military  rank.    I  shall  have  great  pleasure  in 

225 


THE   CHATEAU    OF   MONTPLAISIR 

testifying  to  it,  particularly  in  the  presence  of 
my  nephew,  whose  conduct  I  deplore,  and  in 
that  of  the  Comtesse  de  Beauregard,  who,  as 
you  know,  is  a  great  admirer  of  spirit  in  a 
man.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  my  nephew 
has  lost  whatever  chance  he  had  of  winning 
Madame  de  Beauregard's  hand." 

A  sudden  change  came  over  General  Gra- 
nier's  wizened  old  face. 

"Do  you  think  so?"  asked  he,  stroking 
his  mustache. 

"  I  certainly  do,"  responded  Louis.  "  And 
I  may  say  to  you  that  there  are  other  gen- 
tlemen whom  I  might  name  that  come  much 
nearer  Madame  de  Beauregard's  ideas  of  a 
man  than  my  nephew,  worthy  as  he  is,  and 
admirable  in  his  own  province  of  soap-boil- 
ing. I  hope,  monsieur,  that  matters  may  be 
arranged  so  that  our  former  pleasant  rela- 
tions may  be  resumed,  and  that  I  may  have 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  at  the  Chateau  of 
Montplaisir,  especially  during  Madame  de 
Beauregard's  stay  there." 

General  Granier,  smiling  like  a  May  morn- 
ing, replied: 

226 


MARS   AND    CUPID 


"  I  am  perfectly  willing,  monsieur,  to 
be  reconciled  to  Monsieur  de  Latour,  and 
any  arrangement  which  Major  Le  Gallian 
makes  will  be  agreeable  to  me.  I  need 
scarcely  say  that  I  am  without  malice  in  the 
affair." 

Louis  and  Major  Le  Gallian  retired  a  few 
yards  off,  and  Louis  whispered  in  Major  Le 
Gallian's  ear : 

"  We  can  have  a  great  deal  of  amusement 
still  out  of  the  old  gentleman,  so  you  had  bet- 
ter arrange  to  bring  him  up  to  the  chateau  to 
dinner  to-night,  and  come  yourself." 

Major  Le  Gallian,  whose  countenance 
had  been  hitherto  unmoved,  winked  and 
grinned  in  reply,  and  then,  turning  to  Gen- 
eral Granier,  announced  gravely  that  every- 
thing had  been  settled  to  his  entire  satisfac- 
tion, and  that  he  had  accepted  an  invitation 
for  both  his  principal  and  himself  to  dine  at 
the  chateau  that  night 

Meanwhile,   the   doctor,   sitting  with   his 
back  against  a  tree,  had  fallen  asleep.    Major 
Le  Gallian,  going  up  to  him,  shook  him  vigor- 
ously and  shouted  in  his  ear: 
227 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  Get  up.  The  whole  thing  has  been  ar- 
ranged, and  not  a  shot  has  been  fired." 

"  Eh?  "  cried  the  doctor,  jumping  up,  "  so 
nothing  happened,  after  all?  Well,  I  am 
very  much  disappointed — that's  all  I  can  say 
— for  I  really  hoped  to  have  had  some  inter- 
esting professional  experiences." 

And  then,  taking  up  his  gruesome-looking 
case,  he  disconsolately  followed  Major  Le 
Gallian  and  General  Granier  down  the  road 
to  where  their  carriage  awaited  them.  The 
cabman,  who  had  also  fallen  asleep  on  his 
box,  seemed  equally  disappointed  when  he 
found  his  patrons  had  escaped  without  death 
or  even  injury. 


228 


IX 


THE    ROGUISH    LITTLE    BLIND    BOY    LAUGHS 
LAST 

BOUT  a  half  hour  later  a  cab  and 
a  wheeled  chair  both  appeared 
before  the  entrance  of  the  Cha- 
teau of  Montplaisir.  Louis  de 
Latour  jumped  out  of  the  cab  while  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  scrambled  out  of  the  wheeled 
chair.  The  four  gold  pieces  slipped  into  the 
policeman's  hand  increased  still  further  his 
colossal  grin,  but  it  was  nothing  to  the  air  of 
pleasure  and  relief  which  Monsieur  de  La- 
tour  wore.  He  took  Louis  by  the  arm,  and 
the  two  marched  into  the  room  known  as 
Monsieur  de  Latour's  study. 

"  I  have  thought  it  all  over,"  said  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour,  sitting  down  in  a  chair  and 
putting  his  hands  on  his  knees,  "  and  I  know 
what  to  do." 

229 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  asked  Louis. 

"  Why,  the  whole  business,  marrying  and 
the  rest  of  it.  I  am  not  going  to  marry  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard.  That  woman  is  too 
much  for  me." 

"  So  everybody  knows,"  remarked  Louis. 

"  In  fact,  I  would  rather  stand  up  and  be 
shot  at  by  General  Granier's  leg  than  marry 
Madame  de  Beauregard,  with  the  life  she 
would  lead  me.  And  as  for  a  pretty  young 
girl  like  Julie,  that  unfortunate  peculiarity 
she  has  of  always  leaving  out  one  word  in 
everything  she  writes  and  getting  one  word 
twisted  in  everything  she  tells  is  very  annoy- 
ing. So  I  have  abandoned  all  idea  of  marry- 
ing her.  Perhaps  she  might  take  you." 

Louis  assumed  a  reflective  air. 

"  I  think,"  he  said,  "  I  could  break  her  of 
that  unfortunate  habit,  as  you  call  it,  which 
she  has,"  and  at  the  same  moment  he  took  a 
dainty  note  out  of  his  pocket. 

It  was  in  Julie's  expansive  handwriting, 
but  there  was  not  a  single  word  left  out,  and 
it  was  expressed  with  the  utmost  clearness  and 
precision. 

230 


THE   BLIND   BOY   LAUGHS   LAST 

"  I  shall  venture  to  read  it  to  you,"  said 
Louis.  "  I  don't  think  that  Mademoiselle  de 
Bresac  will  be  offended  with  me."  And  he 
read: 

"I  have  just  had  your  note.  Nothing  would  induce 
me  to  marry  any  one  except  you.  If  my  aunt  and  Mon- 
sieur de  Latour  will  not  give  their  consent,  then  we  can 
wait ;  but  I  am  always,  until  I  die,  your  own 

" JULIE  DE  C.  DE  BRESAC." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  listened  attentively. 

"  Now,  if  she  had  been  as  clear  and  busi- 
nesslike as  that  in  what  she  wrote  for  me,  I 
would  have  been  perfectly  satisfied." 

"  Possibly  she  did  not  understand  so  well 
what  you  wished  her  to  say." 

"  She  seems  to  understand  well  enough 
what  she  wishes  to  say  herself  in  this  case. 
Well,  now,  I  shall  tell  you  my  plan.  I  shall 
marry  Mademoiselle  Cheri." 

"  Provided  she  will  have  you." 

"Oh,  I  think  she  will!" 

"  And  also  provided  that  I  consent.  Re- 
member, my  dear  fellow,  that  I  am  your 
uncle." 

"  The  devil  you  are !  " 
231 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  Recollect,  if  you  please,  the  legal  rights 
of  adoption." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  jumped  up,  and  tak- 
ing an  angry  turn  or  two  about  the  room,  sat 
down  again. 

"  Very  well,"  he  said,  "  if  you  refuse  your 
consent  to  my  marrying  Mademoiselle  Cheri, 
I  can  very  easily  refuse  my  consent,  to  your 
marrying  Julie." 

"  Monsieur  Bertoux  tells  me  that  it  is  a 
complicated  question,"  responded  Louis,  "  but 
nevertheless  our  marriage  could  scarcely  be 
prevented.  However  I,  as  your  uncle,  could 
very  easily  prevent  your  marrying  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri." 

This  infuriated  Monsieur  de  Latour,  who, 
shaking  his  fist  in  Louis's  face,  bawled : 

"  I'd  like  to  see  you  try,  and  I  have  a  great 
mind  to  elope  to  America  with  Mademoiselle 
Cheri  this  very  day!  " 

Louis  whistled  softly,  by  way  of  showing 
his  contempt  for  this  proposition.  Then 
Monsieur  de  Latour,  relapsing  into  a  gloomy 
silence,  sat  huddled  up  in  his  chair  for  some 
minutes.  Presently  he  growled: 
232 


THE   BLIND   BOY   LAUGHS   LAST 

"  If  I  give  my  consent  to  your  marriage 
with  Julie,  I  presume  you  would  consent,  con- 
found you !  to  my  marriage  with  Mademoi- 
selle Cheri?" 

"  Certainly  I  would,"  cried  Louis,  "  but  I 
should  still  exercise  a  fatherly  care  over  you, 
and  see  that  two  giddy  young  things  like  you 
and  Mademoiselle  Cheri  did  not  commit  any 
indiscretions — like  your  duel  of  this  morning, 
for  example." 

"  Into  which  you  dragged  me  against 
my  will,"  replied  Monsieur  de  Latour.  "  I 
outwitted  all  of  you.  It  cost  me  eighty 
francs,  but  it  was  the  best  investment  I  ever 
made.  It  saved  my  life  from  that  blood- 
thirsty old  general." 

"  I  shall,  of  course,"  continued  Louis  lof- 
tily, "  keep  an  eye  upon  you,  regulate  your  ex- 
penditures, and  require  you  to  report  to  me 
at  least  once  a  week  till  I  see  how  you  are 
behaving  yourself.  This  will  be  my  duty  as 
your  uncle." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  ground  his  teeth 
with  rage.  Then,  after  another  pause,  he 
said: 

16  233 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

"  I  believe  that  whole  scheme  was  ar- 
ranged between  you  and  Julie." 

A  smile  flickered  in  Louis's  eyes,  but  he 
made  no  reply  to  this.  At  last  Monsieur  de 
Latour  cried: 

"  Confound  both  of  you !  But  I  will  give 
you  the  three  hundred  thousand  francs  to  let 
me  off  from  that  agreement." 

"  No,  my  dear  Victor,"  answered  Louis, 
shaking  his  head,  "  agreeable  as  it  would  be 
to  me  to  have  that  three  hundred  thousand 
francs,  I  can't  make  a  relationship  so  delicate 
and  tender  as  ours  a  matter  of  barter  and 
sale." 

"  You  mean  the  power  of  thwarting  and 
opposing  me?"  cried  Monsieur  de  Latour 
very  excitedly.  "  Well,  I  will  give  you  four 
hundred  thousand  francs  to  let  me  off." 

"  No,  I  cannot,  after  having  just  acquired 
you  as  a  nephew,  part  with  you  so  easily." 

"So  cheaply,  you  mean.  I  will  give  you 
five  hundred  thousand  francs." 

"  You  affront  me." 

"  Five  hundred  and  fifty  thousand." 

"  You  insult  me." 

234 


THE   BLIND   BOY   LAUGHS   LAST 

"  Six  hundred  thousand." 

"  Be  silent.    I  can  stand  no  more." 

"  You  mean  you  won't  let  me  off  at  any 
price?" 

"  I  must  consult  Julie  first." 

"  This  is  enough  to  put  a  man  in  a  mad- 
house— that  I  am  to  be  discussed  by  two  such 
flibbertigibbets.  Of  course  it's  nothing  but 
a  scheme  to  get  money  out  of  me,  but  six  hun- 
dred thousand  francs  is  all  I  mean  to  pay  for 
my  liberty." 

Just  then  the  door  burst  open,  and  in 
pranced  Madame  de  Beauregard.  It  was 
still  very  early  in  the  morning,  and  Madame 
de  Beauregard  had  not  made  her  midday 
toilet.  She  wore  a  peignoir,  and  the  defi- 
ciencies of  her  hair-dressing  were  concealed 
by  a  shawl  wrapped  around  her  head.  She 
had  slippers  on  her  little  feet,  but  Monsieur 
de  Latour  suspected  that  she  had  omitted  to 
put  on  her  stockings. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  not  feeling  equal  to 

encountering  Madame  de  Beauregard  just  at 

that  moment,  retired  hastily  into  his  bedroom 

adjoining.      But    Madame    de    Beauregard, 

235 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

who  was  no  respecter  of  persons,  followed 
him  in  and  almost  collared  him  as  he  retreated 
toward  the  fireplace. 

"  So,"  she  cried,  "  you  call  yourself  a  man 
of  spirit,  and  you  are  put  into  a  wheeled  chair 
to  be  carried  to  the  field  of  honour,  and  then 
you  pay  a  policeman  eighty  francs  to  trundle 
you  away.  And  I  believe  you  actually  got  it 
into  your  ridiculous  old  head  that  I  would 
marry  you.  Not  for  worlds!  " 

Here  Louis,  seeing  a  chance  to  put  in  a 
word  for  General  Granier,  said: 

"  But,  madame,  General  Granier  was  pres- 
ent and  acted  with  the  utmost  gallantry.  I 
have  never  seen  such  a  fire-eater.  He  not 
only  frightened  my  nephew,  but  he  frightened 
me." 

"Did  he  really?"  asked  Madame  de 
Beauregard,  whirling  around. 

"  And  his  leg  was  as  steady  as  a  rock, 
though  he  had  been  up  three  nights  running, 
playing  cards  and  drinking  champagne  until 
breakfast-time." 

"Was  he  really?     Well,  I  declare,  if  he 
were  fifty  years  younger  I'd  marry  him." 
236 


THE   BLIND    BOY   LAUGHS   LAST 

"  He's  coming  to  dinner  to-night,"  put  in 
Louis  insinuatingly.  "  My  own  belief,  ma- 
dame,  is  that  you  would  have  difficulty  in  find- 
ing any  man  fifty  years  younger  than  General 
Granier  with  the  life  and  spirit  that  he  has 
in  him." 

"  At  all  events,"  said  Madame  de  Beau- 
regard,  addressing  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
who,  chased  almost  into  the  fireplace,  was 
about  taking  refuge  in  a  wardrobe,  "  I 
shouldn't  think  of  marrying  an  old  sheep 
like  you,  my  dear  man.  You  had  much  bet- 
ter marry  the  soap-boiler's  daughter,  Made- 
moiselle Cheri,  and  the  couple  of  you 
will  be  about  as  tame  as  a  pair  of  barnyard 
fowls." 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  stung  by  the  con- 
tempt expressed  in  Madame  de  Beauregard's 
tone,  plucked  up  his  courage. 

"  It  is  my  wish  to  marry  Mademoiselle 
Cheri,  if  she  will  have  me,  madame,"  he  said, 
"  and  as  for  leading  the  life  of  barnyard 
fowls — well,  it  agrees  with  my  constitution 
better  than  the  life  that  you,  madame,  will 
probably  lead  with  General  Granier.  And 
237 


THE   CHATEAU   OF  MONTPLAISIR 

now,  madame,  if  you  will  kindly  leave  me, 
I  wish  to  arrange  my  toilet." 

"  Don't  mind  me,"  said  the  old  lady  non- 
chalantly, seating  herself  on  the  bed. 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  meaning  to  frighten 
her,  peeled  off  his  coat.  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard,  without  flinching,  spread  her  petticoats 
around  her,  and  began  to  sing  a  song  which 
ended  in  a  refrain  of  "  Tra  la  la  something 
or  other."  Monsieur  de  Latour  then  re- 
moved his  waistcoat,  but  Madame  de  Beaure- 
gard  stood,  or  rather  sat,  her  ground  un- 
dauntedly. 

"  Will  you  force  me,  madame,  to  appear 
sans  culottes'?  "  asked  Monsieur  de  Latour  in 
desperation. 

"  Just  as  you  please,  my  dear  man.  I  don't 
mind  a  little  thing  like  that." 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  finding  himself  de- 
feated, resumed  his  waistcoat  and  coat,  and 
offering  his  arm  to  Madame  de  Beauregard, 
the  old  lady  skipped  off  with  him.  Monsieur 
de  Latour  escorted  her  out  to  the  terrace. 
There  sat  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  Melanie  and 
Eugene  de  Contiac.  Madame  de  Beaure- 
238 


THE   BLIND    BOY   LAUGHS   LAST 

gard's  sketchy  toilet  gave  a  slight  shock  to  all 
of  them,  but  the  old  lady  herself  remarked 
casually  : 

"  I  know  I  haven't  got  half  enough 
clothes  on,  but  you  needn't  look  at  me,  and 
you  can't  see  without  looking,  that  much  is 
certain." 

Eugene  de  Contiac  had  in  his  hands  a  book 
of  sermons.  He  made  not  the  least  attempt 
to  conceal  this  when  Madame  de  Beauregard 
appeared,  but  kept  it  openly  and  shamelessly 
in  view. 

"  So  you  are  at  it  again !  "  shrieked  Ma- 
dame de  Beauregard.  "  That's  the  way  it 
has  been  ever  since  that  idiotic  Bertoux  paid 
the  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  francs  to 
your  credit  in  bank.  He  says  I  told  him  to 
do  it,  and  perhaps  I  did,  as  I  really  thought 
you  had  mended  your  ways  by  that  trip  to 
Paris." 

"  My  dear  aunt,"  quietly  replied  Eugene, 
"  Melanie  has  forgiven  me  that  trip  to  Paris, 
and  I  have  promised  her  never  to  go  upon 
a  like  expedition.  I  was  perfectly  safe  in 
doing  this,  as  another  such  week  would  be 
239 


THE    CHATEAU   OF   MONTPLAISIR 

my  death.  And  as  you  have  kindly  made  me 
independent,  Melanie  has  agreed  to  marry 
me,  provided  Monsieur  de  Latour  gives  his 
consent." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  assumed  a  very  stern 
and  forbidding  air,  and  then  said : 

"  I  must  consider  it." 

Then .  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  rising  and  go- 
ing to  him  with  the  familiarity  of  an  old 
friend,  said: 

"  Come  now,  Victor,  you  don't  mean  that 
you  will  really  interfere  with  the  happiness  of 
these  two  young  people?  " 

Monsieur  de  Latour,  seeing  his  chance, 
remarked  significantly : 

"  Shall  we  discuss  it  a  little,  then?  "  And 
the  two  walked  off  toward  the  orangery. 

Once  under  its  green  shade,  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  with  the  air  and  manner  of  a  man  of 
twenty-five  making  love  to  a  girl  of  eighteen, 
said  sentimentally : 

"  I  will  give  my  consent  upon  one  condi- 
tion, and  it  is  that  you,  Seline,  forgive  all 
my  follies  and  faithlessness,  and  marry  me. 
I  am  done  with  great  people.  I  have  nearly 
240 


"  '  I  will  give  my  consent  upon  one  condition. 


THE   BLIND    BOY   LAUGHS   LAST 

been  killed  by  two  of  them — that  dreadful 
old  lady  over  yonder  and  General  Granier.  I 
am  a  changed  man.  Instead  of  being  the 
head  of  the  house  of  De  Latour,  I  should  like 
to  return  to  Brionville  and  boil  soap  the  rest 
of  my  life.  And  if  you,  Seline,  will  go  with 
me,  I  will  promise  you  to  lead  a  quiet,  respect- 
able and,  I  hope,  respected  life  the  rest  of  my 
days." 

Mademoiselle  Seline  looked  at  him  and  her 
kind  eyes  grew  kinder. 

"  If  that  be  true,  Victor,"  she  answered 
sweetly  after  a  moment,  "  then  we  may  in- 
deed spend  the  rest  of  our  lives  together.  As 
long  as  you  aspired  to  rank  and  fashion, 
and  courted  the  society  of  people  above 
you,  who  simply  amused  themselves  at 
your  expense,  I  could  not  think  of  marrying 
you.  But  now  that  you  have  become  the 
Victor  de  Latour  of  twenty  years  ago,  well 
then " 

Mademoiselle  Cheri,  with  a  smile,  gave  her 
hand,  still  plump  and  pretty,  to  Monsieur  de 
Latour,  who  raised  it  to  his  lips. 

"  And  now,"  she  continued,  "  you  will  not 
241 


THE    CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

stand  between  Melanie  and  her  happiness,  for 
I  know  that  those  two  are  sincerely  attached 
to  each  other." 

To  this  Monsieur  de  Latour,  like  a  true 
lover,  replied:  "Your  will,  Seline,  shall  be 
my  law." 

Monsieur  de  Latour  and  Mademoiselle 
Cheri,  their  countenances  beaming,  returned 
to  the  group,  which  had  been  increased  by  the 
appearance  of  Louis  and  Julie,  who  had  come 
from  Heaven  knows  where.  As  soon  as  the 
group  caught  sight  of  Monsieur  de  Latour 
and  Mademoiselle  Cheri  all  knew  that  some- 
thing had  happened — that  something  which 
makes  or  mars  a  lifetime.  In  this  case  it  was 
evident  that  Monsieur  de  Latour's  happiness 
was  made  forever.  His  countenance  shone 
like  the  harvest  moon,  he  stepped  high,  as  one 
in  whose  veins  joy  is  pulsating,  and  he  radi- 
ated satisfaction.  Mademoiselle  Cheri  was 
smiling  and  composed,  and  her  gentle  face 
expressed  a  tranquil  happiness. 

"  My  friends,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour, 
still  holding  Mademoiselle  Cheri's  plump 
hand  as  they  drew  near,  "  felicitate  me,  I  beg 
242 


THE   BLIND   BOY   LAUGHS   LAST 

of  you.  Mademoiselle  Cheri  has  promised 
to  forgive  me  and  to  marry  me." 

At  this  Melanie  krssed  them  both  joyfully, 
and  Louis,  with  a  paternal  air,  said : 

"  My  dear  nephew,  I  assure  you  there  is 
no  one  I  would  more  gladly  welcome  as  my 
niece  than  Mademoiselle  Cheri,  and  I  may 
say  that  Mademoiselle  de  Bresac,  who  will 
certainly  be  your  future  aunt,  feels  as  I  do." 

"Indeed  Ido!"  cried  Julie,  laying  her 
hand  upon  Monsieur  de  Latour's  arm.  "  And 
I  rejoice  in  the  thought  of  becoming  aunt  to 
you  and  dear  Mademoiselle  Cheri " 

"  What  did  you  say?  "  asked  Monsieur  de 
Latour  incredulously. 

"  As  your  prospective  aunt,  dear  Victor," 
Julie  reiterated,  with  the  calmest  air  in  the 
world.  "  Of  course,  if  I  marry  Louis,  I  shall 
be  your  aunt." 

"  Come,"  said  Monsieur  de  Latour,  a  little 
upset  by  the  turn  of  the  conversation,  "  let  us 
stop  all  this  nonsense.  I  haven't  the  slightest 
objection  to  your  marrying  Louis.  I  like  the 
scamp,  in  spite  of  the  annoyance  that  he  has 
caused  me,  and  I  believe  him  to  be  an  excel- 
243 


THE   CHATEAU    OF  MONTPLAISIR 

lent  fellow,  but  I  can't  be  made  further  ridicu- 
lous by  this  uncle  and  nephew  business.  There 
has  been  quite  enough  of  it,  and  I  desire  you 
to  stop  it.  So  I  propose  that  to-day  we  shall 
straighten  out  the  relationship  and  correct  the 
mistake  that  you  made,  and  I  will  hand  over 
the  three  hundred  thousand  francs  with  which 
I  agreed  to  endow  Louis.  It  is  worth  that 
much  to  get  rid  of  his  patronising  airs  and  in- 
fernal meddling." 

At  this  Monsieur  de  Latour  found  himself 
struggling  in  Louis's  embrace  and  almost  felt 
his  ribs  cracking,  while  Julie  nearly  strangled 
him  with  kisses.  Madame  de  Beauregard's 
clear  old  voice  cut  the  morning  air  as  she  pro- 
claimed : 

"  Good  Heavens !  all  the  world  seems  to  be 
getting  married.  I  shall  ring  up  General 
Granier  over  the  telephone  and  tell  him  that 
I  mean  to  marry  him  just  as  soon  as  I  have 
time  to  attend  to  anything.  Let  me  see — 
automobiling  this  morning,  casino  in  the  af- 
ternoon, dinner  in  the  evening;  automobiling 
to-morrow  morning,  casino  in  the  afternoon, 
ball  in  the  evening — well,  I  shall  arrange  to 
244 


THE   BLIND   BOY   LAUGHS   LAST 

get  married  as  soon  as  possible ;  but  one  leads 
such  a  gay  life  in  Dinard  that  it's  very  hard 
to  find  time  to  do  anything,  even  to  get  mar- 
ried." 

To  judge,  however,  from  the  radiance  of 
happiness  which  played  upon  every  face  as- 
sembled upon  the  terrace  of  the  Chateau  of 
Montplaisir  that  sunny  August  morning,  it 
was  plain  that  each  of  them,  except  Madame 
de  Beauregard,  would  easily  and  quickly  find 
time  for  the  perfect  union  of  hearts  and  souls 
and  minds  which  awaited  in  marriage  each 

pair  of  lovers. 

(i) 


245 


WHERE    LOVE    CONQUERS. 

The  Reckoning. 

By  ROBERT  W.  CHAMBERS. 

The  author's  intention  is  to  treat,  in  a  series  of  four  or  five 
romances,  that  part  of  the  war  for  independence  which  particularly 
affected  the  great  landed  families  of  northern  New  York,  the 
Johnsons,  represented  by  Sir  William,  Sir  John,  Guy  Johnson,  and 
Colonel  Claus ;  the  notorious  Butlers,  father  and  son,  the  Schuylers, 
Van  Rensselaers,  and  others. 

The  first  romance  of  the  series,  Cardigan,  was  followed  by  the 
second,  The  Maid-at-Arms.  The  third,  in  order,  is  not  completed. 
The  fourth  is  the  present  volume. 

As  Cardigan  pretended  to  portray  life  on  the  baronial  estate  of 
Sir  William  Johnson,  the  first  uneasiness  concerning  the  coming 
trouble,  the  first  discordant  note  struck  in  the  harmonious  councils 
of  the  Long  House,  so,  in  The  Maid-at-Arms,  which  followed  in 
order,  the  author  attempted  to  paint  a  patroon  family  disturbed  by 
the  approaching  rumble  of  battle.  That  romance  dealt  with  the 
first  serious  split  in  the  Iroquois  Confederacy ;  it  showed  the  Long 
House  shattered  though  not  fallen ;  the  demoralization  and  final 
flight  of  the  great  landed  families  who  remained  loyal  to  the  British 
Crown;  and  it  struck  the  key-note  to  the  future  attitude  of  the 
Iroquois  toward  the  patriots  of  the  frontier — revenge  for  their 
losses  at  the  battle  of  Oriskany — and  ended  with  the  march  of  the 
militia  and  continental  troops  on  Saratoga. 

The  third  romance,  as  yet  incomplete  and  unpublished,  deals 
with  the  war-path  and  those  who  followed  it  led  by  the  landed 
gentry  of  Tryon  County;  and  ends  with  the  first  solid  blow  de- 
livered at  the  Long  House,  and  the  terrible  punishment  of  the 
Great  Confederacy. 

The  present  romance,  the  fourth  in  chronological  order,  picks 
up  the  thread  at  that  point. 

The  author  is  not  conscious  of  having  taken  any  liberties  with 
history  in  preparing  a  framework  of  facts  for  a  mantle  of  romance. 

ROBERT  W.  CHAMBERS. 
NEW  YORK,  May  26,  1904. 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK. 


WORKS  OF  ROBERT  W.  CHAMBERS. 


IOLE 

Colored  inlay  on  the  cover,  decorative  borders,  head- 
pieces, thumb-nail  sketches,  and  tail-pieces.  Frontispiece 
and  three  full-page  illustrations.  i2mo.  Ornamental 
Cloth,  $1.25. 

Does  anybody  remember  the  opera  of  The  Inca,  and  that  heart-breaking 
episode  where  the  Court  Undertaker,  in  a  morbid  desire  to  increase  his  pro- 
fessional skill,  deliberately  accomplishes  the  destruction  of  his  middle-aged 
relatives  in  order  to  inter  them  for  the  sake  of  practice  ? 

If  I  recollect,  his  dismal  confession  runs  something  like  this  : 
"  It  was  in  bleak  November 
When  I  slew  them,  I  remember, 
As  I  caught  them  unawares 
Drinking  tea  in  rocking-chairs." 

And  so  he  talked  them  to  death,  the  subject  being  "  What  Really  Is  Art  ?" 
Afterward  he  was  sorry — 

"  The  squeak  of  a  door, 

The  creak  of  a  floor, 
My  horrors  and  fears  enhance  ; 
And  I  wake  with  a  scream 
As  I  hear  in  my  dream 
The  shrieks  of  my  maiden  aunts  ! " 

Now  it  is  a  very  dreadful  thing  to  suggest  that  those  highly  respectable 
pseudo-spinsters,  the  Sister  Arts,  supposedly  cozily  immune  in  their  polyga- 
mous chastity  (for  every  suitor  for  favor  is  popularly  expected  to  be  wedded  to 
his  particular  art) — I  repeat,  it  is  very  dreadful  to  suggest  that  these  impeccable 
old  ladies  are  in  danger  of  being  talked  to  death. 

But  the  talkers  are  talking  and  Art  Nouveau  rockers  are  rocking,  and  the 
trousers  of  the  prophet  are  patched  with  stained  glass,  and  it  is  a  day  of  dinki- 
ness  and  of  thumbs. 

Let  us  find  comfort  in  the  ancient  proverb  :  "  Art  talked  to  death  shall  rise 
again."  Let  us  also  recollect  that  "Dinky  is  as  dinky  does;"  that  "All  is 
not  Shaw  that  Bernards  ; "  that  "  Better  Yeates  than  Clever  ; "  that  words  are 
so  inexpensive  that  there  is  no  moral  crime  in  robbing  Henry  to  pay  James. 

Firmly  believing  all  this,  abjuring  all  atom-pickers,  slab  furniture,  and 
woodchuck  literature — save  only  the  immortal  verse : 

44  And  there  the  wooden-chuck  doth  tread  ; 

While  from  the  oak  trees'  tops 
The  red,  red  squirrel  on  the  head 

The  frequent  acorn  drops." 

Abjuring,  as  I  say,  dinkiness  in  all  its  forms,  we  may  still  hope  that  those 
cleanly  and  respectable  spinsters,  the  Sister  Arts,  will  continue  throughout  the 
ages,  rocking  and  drinking  tea  unterrified  by  the  million-tongued  clamor  in 
the  back  yard  and  below  stairs,  where  thumb  and  forefinger  continue  the 
question  demanded  by  intellectual  exhaustion  : 
"  L'arr !  Kesker  say  1'arr  ?  " 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK, 


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